


How to make The Senju smile

by malazuzu22



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Hashirama is an overgrown child, I have zero regrets tho, I'm not sure this will include any smut yet, Izuna is a little weasel, Just get together will you, Just the same old shit, Kagami is actually a devil, Madara has a crush, Pining, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Tobirama does smile sometimes, What else is new, believe it or not, cause I'm evil, more like sloooooowww buuuuurrrrnnn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-02-03 23:51:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 47,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12758832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malazuzu22/pseuds/malazuzu22
Summary: Senju Tobirama did not smile. Ever. No matter how fervently Izuna and Kagami claimed otherwise. It wasn't like Madara was envious about them witnessing that rare phenomenon. He was just naturally curious and sceptical. So when he deviced a plan (or several of them) to make the bleached bastard smile to find out for himself exactly how pretty it was, it was purely for scientific reasons. Of course it was. The only thing Madara had not bargained for was that he might have accidentally fallen in love with that smile.EDIT November 18 - I kinda lost my passion for fanfics for a while as I have a lot going on in my real life. I’m terribly sorry to keep y’all waiting. Hopefully will be finished at some point. Thanks for your support! <3





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, my dear friends! After some pondering I decided enough is enough and I might as well share the beginning of the story I have written like three months ago and maybe if you like it your reactions will make me finish it. :D Honestly, I'm just so in love with this story I somehow don't want to let it go. But at the same time I really want to show you guys. 
> 
> So. Enjoy! <3

Madara was sitting in the back garden, one of numerous scrolls with mission reports on his lap and a cup of tea at hand. Although he was in fact still working, he was trying to enjoy himself and relax as much as he could. No one said he had to sit on the uncomfortable chair in his office in the hokage tower the whole day, right?

 

Madara really hated the twice damned piece of furniture but since it was made by Hashirama himself, he couldn’t really complain out loud if he wanted to spare himself a massive headache. The big oaf would throw one of his sulking tantrums and no one wanted to see a 26 years old man, who was by an accident or a joke of gods (or both) in charge of the whole village, behaving like a toddler.

Also a huge part of his dislike for aforementioned chair was based on the fact it was _inside his office_ , behind his desk swarmed with paperwork. Hashirama’s attention span was shit and he was entirely too slow to go through all of it in some kind of reasonable timeframe – totally on purpose if Madara was to judge, therefore he and _The most infuriating prick Madara has ever been forced to share the air with™_ , also commonly known through the shinobi world by the name of Senju Tobirama, had to take a part of it on themselves if the village was to stay standing.

Madara took care of assigning shinobi to missions, going through the endless amount of scrolls with mission reports, assigning patrols around the village and other shinobi work related stuff while Tobirama was mostly dealing with numerous requests and ideas about village infrastructure, often coming up with this or that ridiculous idea for improvements himself.

Not to mention his office was entirely too close to the hokage office. Hashirama would often sneak in using the rooftop to whine about his responsibilities, usually followed by Tobirama after a few minutes, who would drag him back kicking and pleading and the two would cause a scene that would inflict one of Madara’s migraines. To quote any Nara in the village – entirely too bothersome. Opportunities to escape this ordeal weren’t very frequent so he relished in every last one of them.

 

He just sipped on his kocha and closed his eyes briefly to appreciate the taste of his favourite flavour of tea properly. Izuna insisted he liked black tea so much because it matched his black soul, even though it actually had dark red colour, befitting for sharingan users in Madara’s opinion. His silent peace was interrupted when the wind brought a snippet of a conversation to his ears.

‘…and he was teaching us how to improve our teamwork and then some cool taijutsu moves. He also promised to show us one of his summons if we manage to improve enough by the end of the week! Tobirama-sensei is just so strong and skilled and awesome!’ A high-pitched voice belonging no other than the devil himself incarnated into a child with deceivingly angelic features blabbed mile a minute.

 

‘Yeah, he can be pretty cool! I’m glad to hear you like your new teacher and he treats you well, Kagami-chan.’ Izuna ruffled the kid’s curly hair with amused expression just as the pair of Uchiha came into the view.   _‘Pretty cool, my ass. He’s an epitome of living iceberg.’_ Madara rolled his eyes. ‘And he’s so handsome too, don’t you think?’ Kagami sighed dreamily. Izuna snorted at that and Madara caught himself almost choking on his tea for some inexplicable reason.

‘I suppose he’s not that bad. For a Senju.’ Izuna inclined his head deliberately. ‘He praised me today when I showed him my goukakyuu no jutsu. And he smiled too! He’s the most handsome person I’ve ever met!’ Kagami pouted a bit, apparently dissatisfied with Izuna’s vague description of his sensei.

 

‘Senju Tobirama smiling? In what universe? Are you sure you didn’t hit your head, kid?’ Madara snorted dryly from his sitting place underneath an apple tree, making the two notice him at last. ‘Madara-sama! I did not! He did smile at me!’ Kagami crossed his arms and stomped his foot insistently, drawing a chuckle out of Izuna.

‘Did someone die a horrible and painful death by his hand then? That would probably awake some sort of sick amusement in the bleached bastard.’ Madara tapped his chin thoughtfully. ‘Believe it or not, he does smile from time to time.’ Izuna backed the kid’s statement with a smirk and plopped down next to Madara to casually snatch a pastry from his plate.

‘You mean to say you’ve seen it too? Does it occur like once in a century? Shouldn’t we label it as a natural phenomenon?’ Madara inquired incredulously. ‘Brother, Tobi is my best friend. I admit he can be a bit… stern. Especially around people he doesn’t trust. But of course I’ve seen him smile, it isn’t even that rare occurrence.’ Izuna tilted his head, munching happily on yet another biscuit.

 

Madara wasn’t sure if the offended scoff that involuntarily escaped his lungs was a reaction to Izuna’s claim that the white-haired Senju who almost killed him a few years ago somehow became his best friend or that he witnessed him smile as well while Madara (who totally did not feel funny flutters in his stomach the other day when he happened to be standing so near to Tobirama he could count all of his pale freckles and the sensation most certainly _did not_ freak him out, thank you very much) lacked such experience.

Izuna seemed to be assessing him with thoughtful expression which slowly morphed into wicked grin that never bode anything good. ‘We’ve been living in Konoha for three years already and you never saw him smile?’ Izuna raised his brow, glee clearly painted on his features. ‘Is that really important?’ Madara snapped irritably. ‘I don’t know, you tell me, is it? You seem pretty upset about it.’ Izuna needled and Madara groaned inwardly. Damn his nosy little brother.

‘No, I’m not. I’m just somewhat sceptical he is capable of any other facial expression than icy glare which would freeze the hell over.’ The older Uchiha attempted to maintain the air of indifference. ‘You’re forgetting that look he gives you when he wants to convey how stupid you are being, aniki.’ Izuna grinned at Madara’s indignant growl. ‘Yeah, that prick graces me with that one often enough for me to wish to wipe it off his ghastly face with a fireball.’ The elder Uchiha grumbled.

 

‘Stop calling sensei names!’ Kagami – whose presence Madara momentarily forgot – shrieked, apparently mortally offended on Tobirama’s behalf. Madara winced at the sheer volume that abused his eardrums like vicious needles.

‘It’s getting late. Shouldn’t you return home to your good mother?’ He tried very much not to growl at the child.  ‘I’m sure she’ll be waiting with dinner ready by now. You don’t want it to get cold, do you?’ Izuna, kami bless him just this once, decided to back him up. The kid’s eyes widened, most likely considering the image of enraged Uchiha Aya.

‘Right. Mum can be pretty terrifying when she’s angry, I should be going. Excuse me, Izuna-san, Madara-sama.’ Kagami nodded and trotted away, bouncing on his feet with enthusiasm of a hyperactive ten years old. ‘But if you speak badly about Tobirama-sensei again, I’m telling on you and he will kick your butt!’ He threw a stink eye at Madara over his shoulder before he disappeared behind the corner.

 

When Izuna finally calmed down a bit and was done laughing his ass off about ten years old kid threatening his brother, the fearsome and invincible head of the Uchiha clan, he nudged Madara’s ribs with his elbow. ‘Watch your back, brother! But seriously, you’ve never seen Tobirama smile? That’s not possible.’ He shook his head in disbelief. Madara bit his tongue not to yell.

‘For kami’s sake, would you shut up about it? No, I didn’t. Perhaps it slipped your attention, I wouldn’t really wonder any more considering it’s you we’re talking about, but me and Tobirama don’t exactly get along as best pals.’ Madara rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. ‘Don’t I know that… Along with the rest of the village. Anyway, you certainly are missing out then. He _does_ have a pretty smile.’ Izuna snickered at Madara’s infuriated huff.

‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure his smug puss looks just enchanting when he grins.’ The older Uchiha retorted sarcastically. ‘Aww, you really are upset about it! That’s kind of cute. Makes one wonder why.’ Izuna giggled and promptly jumped out of reach just as Madara lashed out to wipe the gleeful expression off his brother’s face. ‘Fret not, brother mine, one day Tobi surely will grace you with his brilliant smile as well and you can die a happy man.’ Izuna kept giggling and making all sorts of ridiculous faces.

‘Izuna, I swear if you don’t shut up at once I’ll arrange you a meeting with the koi pond again.’ Madara growled dangerously low, ready to bolt and tackle the other Uchiha to the ground. ‘No thank you, I think we’re already acquainted more than enough. Save you energy for practicing your goukakyuu no jutsu. Perhaps Tobirama will smile at you too if you show him.’ Izuna chortled at his own stupid joke and ran into the house, just in case Madara decided to carry out his threat.

 

The older Uchiha just released a frustrated groan and pinched the bridge of his nose with a dramatic long-suffering grimace. ‘When will the dolt finally grow up…’ He sighed and picked up the momentarily abandoned mission report to continue on his previous work.

But somehow, he just couldn’t focus on it any more. His thoughts kept returning to the idea that Kagami brat planted into his head. How would Tobirama look like smiling? Would his eyes crease? Would he have dimples? How would his laugh sound like? He had a decently deep voice but Madara couldn’t imagine him matching Hashirama’s booming guffaws. Perhaps he was giggling like a girl. Or squeaking like a bunny. Or maybe he was snorting like a pig. ‘Now that would be precious.’ Madara chuckled at the idea.

 

Eventually he just gave up and returned home, just in time to witness Izuna’s pitiful attempts on cooking. His brother was hopeless when it came to preparing food but he somehow got this idea embedded in his head that the wicked Senju woman he was pining after (Madara secretly called her Harionago but he would never ever dare to say that out loud) would be impressed if he homecooked something for her. So the idiot just kept practicing while Madara was condemned to sample his poor attempts or spend a fortune on takeaways.

At least there wasn’t anything burned this time. And luckily Izuna seemed to forget completely about the topic he teased Madara about just an hour ago so they were fine again. Madara could enjoy his evening in relative peace. If you ruled out the dessert. Izuna apparently mistook sugar for salt again. In a moment of childishness Madara decided to prank Hashirama with the salted pudding the next day.

 

₪₪₪

 

It was a few days later when the idea of the dratted silver-haired Senju smiling didn’t stop nagging Madara’s curiosity so he decided he would just have to find out the truth for himself. Just to have that reference, mind you. Surely it couldn’t be that hard to come up with some joke Tobirama would find amusing, right? Izuna wasn’t the only funny Uchiha around. Madara could be hilarious if he wanted, of course he could. He pointedly ignored the condescending voice in his head saying _‘I’m pretty sure you meant ridiculous’_ which suspiciously sounded like a certain white-haired Senju.

 

He stalked to the door of Tobirama’s office before lunch time. It took him a few seconds to will himself into knocking but he didn’t want to linger too long. No doubt Tobirama knew he was standing there by the chakra signature. ‘Hey, icicle, can I disturb you?’ Madara barged into the room, not waiting for the confirmation if he may come in. Tobirama merely glanced up from his work to give him a sour face in response (if because he was displeased by being disturbed from his precious scrolls or because it was Madara specifically who was bothering him the Uchiha opted not to ponder about).

‘What do you want, Uchiha?’ The Senju raised his thin brow, his calm and collected voice tone lined with slight irritation as was his default mode for dealing with Madara. ‘Nothing, I just wanted to disturb you.’ Madara shrugged and proceeded to examine the assortment of books on one of the numerous shelves. He purposefully didn’t look at Tobirama but the exasperated sigh behind him was a tell-tale answer and it made him grin in satisfaction.

‘It is indeed very thoughtful of you that you sacrifice your precious time just to pop in and aggravate me but unfortunately I’m rather busy at the moment. So if it’s not too much to ask for, could you perhaps consider pissing off again?’ Tobirama groused peevishly. Madara clenched his jaws for a moment to keep his composure up and not snap at Tobirama’s crafty comeback. He had a plan to carry out.

 

‘Nope. I was actually heading down into the village and I thought I’d ask if you want to grab lunch with me.’ Madara turned his head ever so slightly to glance at Tobirama over his shoulder. He wouldn’t admit on his dying bed how much self-control it actually took just to say that while maintaining the air of indifference when his greatest desire right now was to rearrange Tobirama’s face with his fist. The other man looked surprised for a moment before his face melted into a display of blatant suspicion.

‘Me? Lunch with you? For whatever reason?’ The Senju even put down his writing brush to judge his motives with intent focus. ‘Hashirama is nagging me about getting to know you better all the time and being friendlier and stuff and it’s really getting on my nerves already. I felt like I’d give it a shot just to shut the idiot up.’ Madara shrugged. _‘Ha! What a smooth lie!’_ He patted himself on shoulder mentally.

Tobirama seemed unconvinced but after a few seconds of considering Madara cautiously while mulling the proposition over the silver-haired man apparently came to a decision and hummed to himself. ‘Fine. You’re paying though.’ He neatly stacked all his paperwork – a pedantic dork he was – before he stood up and rounded the table. ‘Eh. Whatever.’ Madara rolled his eyes and strode out of the room, not looking back if Tobirama was following him.

 

He heard the door click shut a few steps down the hall and Tobirama fell in step with him a moment later. ‘So. Do you have anything particular on your mind?’ Tobirama started the conversation when the silence between them stretched to the point of awkwardness. ‘Sorry, you were saying…?’ Madara blinked, momentarily distracted by pondering about safe topics to discuss (inconveniently coming up only with a matter of weather).

 

‘I was. I asked whether you mean to go to a specific place.’ Tobirama’s miffed tone reminded Madara he didn’t like to repeat himself. ‘Not particularly.’ Madara admitted with a shrug. ‘Hashirama kept waxing poetics about one restaurant in Inuzuka district…’ Tobirama’s proposition was promptly cut short.

‘Kami no, anything but Inuzuka district. Entirely too many dogs and dog-loving freaks. I always feel like they know who my summons are and their stares are a bit… Unsettling.’ Madara shook himself involuntary. Tobirama quirked a brow at him with a measuring glance. ‘I’m not familiar with your summons but I share your sentiments about that. I don’t venture there unless necessary. Also… the dog smell.’ He made a grimace of utter repulsion. His remark elicited a chuckle out of the Uchiha.

‘True enough. Let’s go to Akimichi compound then, if anything, they certainly know their food.’ Madara suggested instead. ‘Yeah, it’s quite obvious they know how to please one’s stomach.’ Tobirama snorted as they turned their direction towards desired destination. Luckily it wasn’t on the other side of the village unlike Inuzuka or Hyuuga district. Not that Madara would willingly set his foot into Hyuuga compound. Rather spend a week with Inuzuka than an hour with Hyuuga pricks with their ugly pale fish eyes they claimed to rival the sharingan. As if.

 

‘What are all those people gawking at? Is something wrong with my hair or…?’ Madara grumbled lowly when he noticed all the curious or wary glances sent their way. ‘It might be your face. It looks like it caught fire and someone tried to put it out with a hammer.’ Tobirama replied laconically. ‘Ah, hilarious. Seriously, why do I even bother to be nice again when you obviously plan to use your full potential of being an asshole?’ Madara gritted through his clenched jaws, feeling his irk rising rapidly.

‘Fine, fine. I’ll try to tune my sarcasm down. About your hair - still ridiculously long, pointy and chaotically wild mess of black wires. Anything out of ordinary. Do you ever brush it by the way?’ Tobirama sassed. ‘Of course I do! You have something against my hair? As if your shabby colourless birdnest could ever be compared to awesome Uchiha raven black locks.’ Madara bristled and tossed his hair proudly to show-off the sheer fabulousness of it.

‘Yeah, sure. I especially love the way it grows out of your nose. Anyway, I reckon it’s not a very usual sight, us casually strolling through the village together, no real yelling or weapon throwing involved. Yet.’ Tobirama continued calmly. Madara only grunted in response as there was nothing to oppose. Also he experienced a sudden urge to discreetly check his nose hair.

 

They continued to the restaurant in silence, not entirely comfortable but still better than deflecting the Senju’s infuriating remarks. There was only so much Madara could put up with before snapping and compromising his masterplan. ‘Irasshaimase, Senju-sama, Uchiha sama. Please follow me this way.’ The waitress seemed puzzled by seeing them together but swiftly composed herself and led them to their table. They both removed their shoes and sat down on the opposite sides of the low table.

‘What will you drink?’ Madara asked out of forced politeness since he was the one to invite. ‘Green tea will do.’ Tobirama murmured absently, flipping through the menu. ‘Matcha for both, please.’ Madara ordered and the waitress left them with a bow to mull over the food.

 

‘Eww, so many fried things. No wonder Akimichi are so… Let’s say well-upholstered. I’ll go for yakizakana. Salmon, probably.’ Tobirama snapped the menu shut. ‘Not a fan of fried food?’ Madara inquired. ‘It’s not healthy. Hashirama loves tempura, the goof would eat it all the time if he could. I had to keep an eye on his diet. Good riddance of that particular responsibility since it’s Mito’s problem now.’ Tobirama sighed, looking around the restaurant. Too many of other guests were not so subtly watching them.

‘Health freak. I happen to like tempura as well. With balanced training it’s no problem to burn the calories. In fact, I think I’ll order it today.’ Madara decided out of spite even though he preferred inarizushi. ‘Be my guest, I’m not about to talk you out of it if that’s what you expect. It’s not like I really care. And unlike Hashirama, who sits in his office most of the day since he became the hokage, you regularly train and go on missions.’ Tobirama waved his hand dismissively.

‘Mmm you mean to imply I’m in shape? I’m flattered.’ Madara inclined his head mockingly, making Tobirama roll his red eyes. ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. As if you need to have your enormous ego boosted even more.’ The Senju snorted dryly at Madara’s scowl. Before he could retort something particularly vile the waitress cut in to bring their tea and take their orders.

 

‘So. You lured me out there under the pretence of getting to know each other better. Care to tell me something about yourself then?’ Tobirama turned the conversation elsewhere when the waitress left again. ‘Depends on what would you want to know?’ Madara glanced at his companion through the black tresses falling into his face.

‘I’ve been fairly content with my current knowledge on you up this point as it’s more than enough for us to cooperate at work. I already know your family, I know your occupation, I even have a pretty good conception of your fighting style. So perhaps… What do you do in your free time?’ Tobirama met his eyes shortly before scanning the restaurant again, outglaring the curious glances sent their way.

‘I train a lot, that’s hardly surprising. I like to read. I enjoy going to onsen to relax from time to time. And of course I have my falcons to take care of.’ Madara honestly had to think about his hobbies for a moment, he didn’t really have many with not much free time at his hands. And he wasn’t willing to share too much. He wasn’t _really_ here to bond with the Senju, was he?

‘Falcons? I didn’t know that. Although it explains why you walk around with feathers tangled in your hair sometimes.’ Tobirama mused into his cup of tea. Madara was vaguely surprised Tobirama took care to look at him long enough to notice – and remember – such a small detail. ‘Well I don’t tell everyone on sight I enjoy falconry. I got my first falcon when I was a kid. They are magnificent and clever birds.’ Madara stirred his own tea, eyes trained on the swirling green liquid.

‘They certainly are beautiful but I never had the opportunity to study them closer. How many do you have?’ The Senju seemed intrigued enough not to mock him. ‘You and your twisted urge to study everything.’ Madara chuckled shortly. ‘Currently I have three, they can be quite a handful.’ He continued on and explained the basics of the training. It wasn’t every day someone was willing to listen to his ranting about falconry after all.

 

‘That sounds interesting. Distinctly different from training summoning animals. I should like to learn more about it.’ Tobirama noted, attentive wine red eyes trained on Madara. The Uchiha found himself surprised he didn’t feel uncomfortable under the scrutiny. They were able to talk like civilised people for a change and he was actually enjoying himself. ‘It could be arranged if you’d like to meet them sometimes.’ He offered since he was in a good mood. Only when the offer was said he realized with horror he just implied he would like to hang out with the Senju again in the future.

‘I’m not sure what kind of reaction I would get from your clansmen if I set a foot into Uchiha compound. I don’t have the impression I’m exactly welcomed there.’ Tobirama pointed out. ‘No offense, but you are a highly mistrustful bunch. Most of the Uchiha still watch me as if I wanted to kidnap your children and conduct some shady experiments on them to discover all the secrets of your dojutsu.’ The Senju snorted dryly.

‘That’s not… Well.’ Madara meant to oppose but then stopped himself and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Alright, I see your point. But be honest with yourself, you can’t exactly blame them, you totally _are_ a mad scientist type. However, if they were assured a head of the clan would keep an eye on you and no little Uchiha would come to harm, no one could really complain.’ He gestured as if he was already dismissing fretting clan members.

 

‘I’ll consider your offer then. I think our lunch just arrived.’ Tobirama inclined his head and sure enough their food was set in front of them. Recalling what the initial purpose of this lunch was, Madara even cleared his throat before he willed himself to say one of the puns he prepared in means to humour the Senju. ‘Hmm, it looks radishing.’ He commented on the beautifully served meals and stifled a wince. Absolutely terrible. Tobirama glanced at him with brows knit together but then probably concluded he misheard because he didn’t comment on that.

They cleaned their hands, said the obligatory _itadakimasu_ and dug in. ‘Mmm, that’s really good stuff! No wonder Akimichi like to eat so much.’ Madara complimented right after first mouthful. ‘Anyway. I almost forgot to mention you already have trust of a few Uchiha. Izuna spends time with you often enough and recently you finally got the permission to start training with your group of brats.’ He remembered who in fact started this whole ‘make The Senju smile’ quest with a brief scowl.

 

‘Funny but not surprising you didn’t include yourself.’ Tobirama nodded somehow approvingly. Strange. ‘Convincing Kagami’s mother to let him train with me wasn’t easy but the kid was so enthusiastic about it when Izuna recommended him to me he did most of the job. Eventually she just yielded to have his pleas off her back I reckon.’ He frowned into his plate, focused on getting all the bones out of his salmon.

‘I’m actually half convinced Izuna recommended the tiny demon to you as a sick joke in means to drive you mad.’ Madara flashed his teeth wryly at him. ‘Explains why you didn’t protest very much then.’ Tobirama raised an amused brow. ‘Maybe. I’d like to know more about their training. Lettuce discuss this further now we mentioned it.’ Madara used another one of his puns and cringed internally. This one sounded exceptionally bad when said out loud.

 

‘Did you just… You did. I didn’t hear you wrong before. Those are some really terrible jokes. Therefore it’s safe to assume you crafted them yourself.’ Tobirama lifted even his other brow to complete the unimpressed flat stare. ‘Alright, maybe they were a bit cheesy.’ Madara grinned mischievously. Tobirama very much tried to maintain straight face but the corner of his mouth twitching revealed he was cracked.

‘Pray, don’t continue.’ He breathed out long-sufferingly, looking pointedly around to warn Madara people around them were eavesdropping. ‘Relax. I’m just yolking.’ Madara waved his hand in a placating gesture and that did it. Tobirama’s impassive expression crumbled as his eyes widened threateningly and embarrassed blush spread over his pale cheekbones.

‘I swear to gods Uchiha, I’ll never again admit I know you if you say another of those terrible food-related puns.’ Tobirama murmured, shaking his head while clutching his chopsticks with so much force they threatened to snap. Madara felt mightily accomplished to throw him off. ‘I wanted to say another joke about leeches, but I won’t, they all suck.’ He needled just for the hell of it. And that was the final straw.

 

Tobirama’s lips curled upwards in incredulous grin, revealing his teeth and dimples. ‘ _He has dimples. How cute. Wait, what? Senju and cute?!_ ’ Madara worked himself up into a minor heart attack. Where did that thought come from? ‘Enough, I dare you. I’m so embarrassed to be associated with you right now.’ Tobirama hid his reddened face behind a palm but the grin Madara saw a few seconds prior couldn’t be undone.

Madara was very proud of himself indeed. And what a nice prize it was for his efforts to witness Tobirama grinning. Izuna was right. And he was, to put it short, pretty much fucked. Up until now he was still able to deny it but now it hit him with a full force – Tobirama was a remarkably handsome man. What the hell was he supposed to do with this discovery?

‘Fine, I’ll shut up. We should finish the meal and get back to work anyway. I’m surprised Hashirama didn’t sound the emergency alarm already thinking we are murdering each other somewhere.’ The Uchiha took mercy on his companion and turned his attention back to his lunch. Partially to be spared looking at the man in front of him. ‘How generous of you. I don’t know how many more of those I’d be able to withstand before proceeding to drown you.’ Tobirama ran a hand through his hair nervously, skittish about even more attention Madara brought to them and brief slipping of his icy mask.

 

They spent the rest of their lunch and all the way back to hokage tower chatting about Tobirama’s ideas about educating young ninjas. Madara found it pleasant Tobirama seemed to somewhat loosen after his poor joking attempts. He was obviously very enthusiastic about his ideas and Madara liked the ardour he put into his explanations. His group of brats was apparently just a test. If proven to be successful, he wanted to found an academy for shinobi to be trained basics together and later to be sorted into similar groups trained by more experienced teachers.

While talking about all this Tobirama was far from his usual stern and reserved self. He appeared more alive, talking animatedly and Madara had to fight the urge to zone out and just observe closely the subtle way Tobirama’s face shifted with emotions and how he gestured to emphasize his passion about the topic. He was nowhere near Hashirama’s overzealous-bordering-on-maniacal style of narrating (that involved a copious amount of cackling and limbs thrown wildly in every direction) but Madara could clearly see the similar traits between the Senju brothers.

 

‘That’s actually not half bad idea, Senju. Although not all children have the same abilities. Maybe we should think of ranking the shinobi. Being promoted to a certain rank would require passing an exam. Thus the missions could be assigned according to their abilities, preventing unnecessary risks of lives.’ Madara snapped out of his trance and expressed he was in fact impressed by Tobirama’s bold plans.

‘We?’ Tobirama arched a brow at him. Seriously, figuring out his eyebrow game would be the key to estimate his emotions, Madara noted to himself.  ‘I imagine you could use some help convincing the clans and the council.’ The Uchiha shrugged. ‘Oh. I’d… Appreciate that a lot. We can talk about it more later if you really want to help.’ Tobirama seemed surprised but very pleased, rewarding him with a tiny smile. Madara’s heart skipped a few beats. He was _really_ fucked.

‘Should I take it like you would like to do this again sometimes?’ Madara ventured cautiously. Suddenly he felt inexplicably nervous about the answer. ‘I… Totally against all expectations I did enjoy myself, I’d say. Save your horrible jokes, that is. So under the condition you would never say any of them ever again maybe we could…’ Tobirama didn’t get to finish though as Hashirama stormed towards them, obviously in a fretting fit.

 

‘Tobirama! Madara! Where were you? What happened? Is anyone injured? Is the village still standing where it’s supposed to be? You had me _so worried_! I didn’t hear any yelling and no disturbances were reported around the village. I didn’t even notice you disappeared until I took a break and found your offices vacated!’ He started poking and prodding to find any injuries, alternating between his baby brother and best friend.

‘Anija. Stop it. We just went out to discuss something over lunch. We brought some for you as well.’ Tobirama shoved a box with tempura into Hashirama’s hands and turned on his heel to stomp away, once more thoroughly grumpy. ‘What? You were on a lunch… Together? On your own? Like… Just the two of you? Wait, wait, wait where do you think you’re going? Tobiiii!’ Hashirama’s brows disappeared in his hairline, his joyful grin so bright it almost made Madara squint as the big goof took frolicking after Tobirama down the hall towards his office where the younger Senju clearly intended to barricade himself.

 

Madara used Hashirama’s momentary distraction to quietly slip away and set up a barrier in his own office. Just in case. Safely back in his personal space he mulled over the lunch, absently chewing on the wooden handle of his brush. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant in the end. He didn’t expect to find some common field with the Senju. True, Tobirama was still an infuriating prick and one lunch could hardly change that opinion but Madara found himself _intrigued._  That was new. No one really caught his interest for quite a while.

Senju Tobirama… Only a blind man wouldn’t notice he was attractive. Nicely sculpted form, rare colouring, handsome face even with that damn frown permanently set upon it. Without any grudge Madara had to admit he was an exceptionally great ninja with sharp tongue, intelligent and witty mind and an invaluable asset to the village. Finding out they could keep up an interesting discussion too was a pleasant surprise. Well. His goal wasn’t fulfilled yet. Smile didn’t count as a full laugh, did it? He still had a job to do. It was decided, the mystery of Senju Tobirama would be cracked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. That should do for the first chapter. I estimate there will be three or four in total. I have it all in my mind, I just have to make myself write it down. So what do you think? Lemme know, I'm dying to hear your opinions! 
> 
> And as always, thanks for reading! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bahaha, take the second chapter! I tried to finish it asap.
> 
> Enjoy! (:

Of course news in Konoha spread like a wildfire. By the end of his working day, once Madara set foot into his home, he was greeted by Izuna’s face split in a shit-eating grin. ‘Hello, aniki. Did you have an eventful day?’ Izuna’s voice dripping with false sweetness immediately alerted Madara’s attention. He paused in taking his sandals off to glance up at Izuna who only blinked entirely too innocently several times, waiting for his reply. Madara always thought Izuna resembled their mother so much when he did that.

‘Since when are you interested in my daily errands and whereabouts?’ Madara opted to play dumb. Of course he knew exactly what his terrible baby brother was talking about. ‘Aww, you wound me, brother mine! I’ve always had utmost interest in your well-being!’ Izuna pouted like a petulant child. He still had a lot to learn from the pout master Hashirama but still the expression always moved the weaker ones subjected to it. Not so much Madara, who knew better.

‘That’s news to me. Anyway. Nothing too interesting happened.’ Madara stepped past Izuna through the corridor and into the kitchen to store the few groceries he bought on his way home. ‘Really? I’d swear Hikaku told me not an hour ago you were spotted in most interesting company around lunch time.’ Izuna apparently decided he would have to get to the point if he wanted to get any information out of the elder Uchiha.

 

As if Madara was willing to give him any. Not that there was anything to talk about anyway, mind you. Like a lunch with Senju Tobirama was an event worth of gossiping, however differently was the matter apparently regarded by the rest of the village. ‘Yeah. Me and the snowflake had to discuss some business and conveniently brought it up during lunch.’ Madara shrugged nonchalantly. No big deal, right? It _was_ kind of big deal for him but he wasn’t about to admit as much even if he was tortured.

‘So it’s true then? You were on a date with Tobirama?!’ Izuna obviously couldn’t contain his excitement any longer as his question came out in unnaturally high-pitched tone and Madara would swear he could practically see stars in his widened eyes. ‘What? Of course not! It wasn’t a fucking date you half-witted dolt!’ Madara squawked in his defence, perhaps denying it a bit too vehemently as Izuna’s Cheshire cat smirk widened even more. The deep red dusting his cheeks probably wasn’t helping the matter either.

 

‘I’ve been told it certainly looked like one, you didn’t even fight. I have to tell you, I’m proud of you. Took you long enough to ask him out.’ Izuna patted Madara’s shoulder before he smoothly dodged the fist aimed at his empty head. ‘Izuna, don’t tempt me. It _wasn’t_ a date! We talked about his brats and the training he’s subjecting them to. And I never wanted a date with Tobirama in the first place!’ Madara snapped, on the brink of losing his nerves.

‘And falconry. You actually told him about your precious birds.’ Izuna pointed out, completely ignoring any negations. Madara ran a hand across his face in poor attempt to contain his irritation. Did nothing remain sacred to the Konoha gossips? ‘Next time I need to discuss something over lunch I should have it served on top of the Hokage monument. Perhaps there my private matters won’t be pried into.’ Madara growled and stomped towards his own room.

‘A picnic on top of the Hokage monument? How romantic! You totally should do that, Tobirama would love it!’ Izuna followed closely. Madara was damn sure he deserved a medal for not burning his sibling to the crisp by now. ‘So will you go out with him again? Will you?’ Izuna was practically bouncing around him. ‘Izuna, I’m giving you the last warning. Koi pond is awaiting you.’ Madara flashed his younger sibling a scorching glare before he slid his door shut with a loud bang right in front of his face.

‘You know, Hashirama is right in one thing. You would find Tobirama and you have actually a lot in common if you spent more time with him.’ Izuna shouted through the wood before he finally left Madara to his own devices. The elder Uchiha fell face first onto his futon and stifled a groan into the pillow. As if it wasn’t enough it took him good half an hour to get rid of Hashirama earlier in the day, apparently he wasn’t about to have any semblance of peace even in his own home.

 

Their esteemed hokage did go after Tobirama when they returned from the brief lunchbreak, but Tobirama had much more practice in evading his overzealous sibling so Hashirama was very swiftly kicked out of the white-haired Senju’s office and a layer of practically impenetrable barriers were placed around it.

Luckily for Tobirama, he was a master level fuuinjutsu user, rivalled perhaps only by Mito who came from the clan who practically invented most of the fuuinjutsu techniques, therefore Hashirama had no way getting past them. Unluckily for Madara, he was only capable of the basic ones that posed zero problem for the dorky Senju who wanted to hear every tiny detail.

 

Madara told him only the most necessary basics to satisfy Hashirama’s curiosity and just let him tearing and blabbering about how glad he was his best friend and beloved baby brother were finally finding their way to each other. Only thanks to years of practice Madara was able to space out and ignore Hashirama through most of his litany but when he started to be really annoying and Tobirama, the sly bastard, wasn’t showing up to drag Hashirama back to work, he just had to do it himself.

He even contemplated getting Mito but before he lowered to such drastic methods he opted to just threaten Hashirama he would do just that. As if by a miracle, Hashirama immediately snapped his wide and loud mouth shut, his eyes bulged with cold dread and he was out of Madara’s office in a blink of an eye. Everyone, even her own husband, knew better than mess with Uzumaki Mito.

 

Eventually Madara had to leave the sanctuary of his room – not even Izuna was stupid enough to bother him there uninvited – to get some food but the hostility had to radiate off him for a mile since Izuna only kept sending him meaningful looks and grins but otherwise remained silent about the topic of any white-haired suiton users who might happen to be wearing a fur on their armour and happuri face protector and against all odds still look damn hot in those.

 

Going to work the next day, Madara felt a bit nervous about encountering Tobirama, which made him extremely irritable. Not that many people were able to tell the difference from his usual level of prickly anyway, as Tobirama would no doubt point out. But the truth was, they had both so much work to do Madara only saw him when they passed each other in the corridor and even then Tobirama was barely visible behind the amount of scrolls he was carrying.

In fact, Madara was pretty sure Tobirama couldn’t see anything and only recognized him by the chakra signature when he greeted him. Still he kept cursing his treacherous stomach filled with flutters good five minutes later that Tobirama’s tone he used for saying that damned _‘morning, Madara’_ was distinctly lacking any sarcasm and even could be described as a warm one. Madara took care not to leave his office for the rest of the day to evade repeating the situation.

 

Next two days weren’t any better, not with the delegation from the Hidden mist village that was about to come next week to Konoha. Hashirama invited Mizukage of the newly founded Kirigakure to possibly negotiate some trade treaties. Of course the big naïve dolt had peace treaties on his mind but as both Tobirama and Madara agreed on as his advisors, baby steps should be taken before presenting such a big and important proposition to the Mizukage.

 

Despite so much work at his shoulders and Izuna teasing him endlessly on top of that, Madara’s brain still somehow had time to ponder about what Tobirama might be doing and if he really was about to agree to have another lunch with Madara before that dratted tree-loving freak interrupted them so rudely.  By the end of the week, precisely three days after the much discussed lunch, Madara, sitting in his office and glaring accusingly at the reports on village security as if they were the main source of his misery, suddenly brightened as he remembered something Kagami mentioned.

Tobirama promised the brats to show them his summons, right? Madara never saw the Senju’s summons either and with his newest discoveries about the man he again found himself curious. And perhaps he would get to see Tobirama laugh with the children? It would save him a lot of trouble coming up with other cringeworthy jokes. He had a divine right for a break anyway with the literal mountain of scrolls he managed to go through past few days.

 

 

That’s how he ended up sitting in a tree on the outskirts of the training grounds Hashirama was made to build by his terrifying baby brother (Hashirama’s precise phrasing) specifically for the needs of Tobirama’s classes. He told himself a dozen times it wasn’t like he was _spying_ on the Senju, of course not. The fact he did use chakra supressing tag to conceal himself from Tobirama’s sensor skills wasn’t relevant to that. Not one bit.

He was considerably far not to be spotted and due to the tag he couldn’t even use his sharingan to see better so he just kept squinting against the sun. So far nothing too exciting happened. Tobirama made the kids split into pairs and spar, walking around them and correcting their moves, occasionally demonstrating something. He was moving almost gracefully and the way his muscles were shifting under his clothes… Why the hell did he have to be wearing so tight pants anyway? Madara had to bash himself over his head mentally. _‘No place for distractions, focus on the task.’_ He frowned and refocused on the people in the clearing.

 

Eventually the training moved onto ninjutsu. Kagami showed off his goukakyuu no jutsu again and Madara had to admit the brat did improve. However he was mildly disappointed that Tobirama didn’t smile this time around. Maybe Kagami was pulling his leg after all. The Shimura kid proceeded to show some pretty good fuuton techniques then. That one had some potential in Madara’s opinion.

After that the kids started begging Tobirama to show them some suiton techniques. Given their natural affinity to the fire, it was extremely rare to find a natural suiton user between Uchiha and admittedly, Tobirama was the strongest suiton user in the Land of Fire. Madara leaned a bit closer with curiosity, witnessing Tobirama effortlessly make his famous suiryuudan no jutsu, a huge water dragon filling a better part of the clearing. The ability to create such a big mass of water just out of air humidity was something Madara still struggled to comprehend.

 

He most certainly didn’t release an undignified startled squeak when he suddenly felt a familiar chakra signature behind himself and a deep voice spoke up. ‘Pray what do you think you are doing, Madara?’ Tobirama asked, making Madara whip around and look several times at the very man he was spying on and back at the training grounds. Another Tobirama was still talking to the kids. ‘When did you…? And how do you know…?’ The raven-haired male failed to form full sentences, genuinely perplexed, blinking several times. Tobirama smirked wryly.

‘Shunshin. And that one is a shadow clone. Madara, did you really think a simple chakra supressing tag could conceal you from my senses? If so, you’re seriously underestimating me. I can feel people countries away if I focus enough. I feel slightly offended.’ Tobirama sighed exasperatedly and folded his arms. Madara was dumbfounded. And highly impressed. Indeed he was vaguely aware Tobirama’s sensor abilities were very good but he didn’t imagine they were _that_ exceptional.

‘So what’s the meaning of this? Care to explain?’ Tobirama pressed on when Madara failed to produce any kind of response. ‘Erm. I just meant to… Eh, observe how the training’s going. You know, as we talked about it the other day. But I didn’t want to interfere or disrupt their focus on you.’ The Uchiha stammered out a lame excuse why he was caught red-handed snooping around in a tree. ‘Did you? I didn’t think you’d be that interested.’ Tobirama tilted his head, obviously not fully believing him.

 

‘Well, since you’re already there, you could actually lend me a hand and show my students how real sparring session looks like, what do you say?’ The white-haired man let the subject drop for a moment to Madara’s relief. Until he realized he just wanted to kick his ass in front of the brats. ‘Uh. Alright? Although I thought you prefer to train with Izuna.’ Madara hopped off the branch he was perched on. Tobirama followed, barely making any sound as he landed, graceful as always.

‘Yes, we do spar quite often. I’m helping him improve his raiton.’ The Senju nodded as they walked towards the children. ‘In fact, I don’t recall us ever fighting each other. You always engaged Hashirama back then and never made any effort to spend more time in my presence than absolutely necessary up until now.’ Tobirama glanced at him with question hidden in his red eyes. ‘True. Well, there’s a first time to everything.’ Madara shrugged the unspoken question off.

 

‘Madara-sama! What are you doing here?’ Kagami sprinted towards them, screaming excitedly on top how his lungs. ‘Calm down, Kagami-kun. Uchiha-san came to observe personally how your training is going as he is interested in the results. He graciously agreed to spar with me a bit so you would get a glimpse at what a real fight between high-ranked shinobi looks like.’ Tobirama explained, making Madara snort at the honorifics used.

Tobirama’s brats were positively ecstatic. ‘Stay alert. We will be mindful enough not to endanger you by the fight but I still expect you to watch out for yourself and not to get too close. Under any circumstances don’t get involved in the fight. Strict ‘looking only’ policy. That’s mainly for you, Hiruzen.’ Tobirama instructed the group of exhilarated kids sternly.

 

‘So, _Senju-san_. Shall we?’ Madara took several flips backwards to put some space between their sparring area and the audience. ‘Ready when you are, _Uchiha-san_.’ Tobirama used shunshin to flicker to his destined spot. _‘Show-off.’_ Madara snorted to himself. They both bowed to show respect to the opponent and the match began.

At first they only stuck to hand to hand combat, kicking and fists flying in rapid succession. So far Madara kept his sharingan inactive but he had to leave it to Tobirama – the younger ninja was faster than him and he would probably outlast him with his stamina were they about to fight taijutsu only.

Madara put some distance between them and he flew through a few handseals to form housenka no jutsu. Tobirama reacted immediately by countering it with suishouha, colliding wave. Then he went to offensive as he spat several thin water needles of tenkyuu at Madara and he had to show some acrobatic skills to dodge the attack.

 

Madara smirked to himself as the rush of good sparring match pumped through his veins. This was starting to get pretty thrilling and Tobirama seemed to be enjoying himself as well. He would like to go full force on him but he didn’t want to unnecessarily hurt him. Not that the Senju wouldn’t take his attacks but he still felt obliged to seek permission before he would activate the sharingan. Connecting his eyes with Tobirama’s he asked silently if the other agreed on that and Tobirama answered with a barely noticeable nod of approval.

Crimson red flickered to life to counterpart Tobirama’s own ruby red orbs and the tomoe started spinning as Tobirama braced himself for incoming attack. With the approval of going serious on him, Madara took a deep breath before he pushed it out of his lungs mingled with chakra and turned it into the sea of flames known as gouka mekkyaku. It was quite a devastating technique to be used in a battle but Madara was sure Tobirama’s suiryuudan was strong enough to counter it.

 

True enough, a huge water dragon surged forward to the sea of flames and extinguished them with searing hissing and puffing. The clearing was momentarily filled with evaporated water, making it harder to see. Suddenly the steam thickened until Madara found himself engulfed in impenetrable mass of white mist filled with added chakra. Tobirama had to use Kirigakure no jutsu.

Madara groaned, annoyed about the fact he couldn’t see anything save vague outlines of the trees around the training grounds. Of all jutsu Tobirama had to choose the one sharingan was at disadvantage against. He squinted against the whiteness and pushed his chakra awareness a bit further. He wasn’t a sensor by any means but he could read nearby chakra signatures well enough not to be taken by surprise by incoming attack.

 

Tobirama sprinted closer with his custom kunai in left hand and they were sparring again, sparks flying off the clashing metal. Madara was careful enough not to let the kunai from his sight. He knew very well how the Senju was using them with his hiraishin as he almost killed Izuna with the attack. Thank kami Tobirama stilled his hand at the last moment, an act of mercy and benevolence that ultimately led to the peace between two clans.

Unconsciously Madara pressed on and managed to land a light blow on Tobirama’s arm with the kunai. The Senju hissed and flickered away, leaving a few drops of blood on the ground. ‘Fuck, sorry! That wasn’t intentional.’ Madara shouted into the mist sincerely. ‘It’s not like I’m going to die from the scratch. I survived much worse injuries.’ Tobirama snorted from the direction on Madara’s left.

Madara followed the voice, pondering how close the Senju was to death and how many times during the war. Madara himself was seriously injured only once during one of his first battles when he was still young and inexperienced. He stopped himself from going any further when his brain decided to ponder about what kinds of scars might be gracing Tobirama’s milky white skin. Shaking his head, Madara spotted an outline of Tobirama’s silhouette nearby and ran towards it.

 

Several things happened at once. The mist vanished as if wiped away, a blur of black, blue and white passed around him and Madara found himself with a kunai pointing at his throat. ‘Got you, Madara-san.’ Tobirama’s deep voice murmured right into his ear, warm breath ghosting his cheek as the younger male stood behind him, their bodies pressed together separated only by their armour. Madara couldn’t help the shiver it sent up his spine. He would say Tobirama sounded almost as if he was teasing him, if he didn’t know the Senju better. Or was he?

‘Drop the –san already, moron. I must say you took me by surprise. I didn’t notice you throwing the kunai anywhere near me.’ Madara twisted his head to peer at him, mindful of the sharp blade still at his throat, consequently getting their faces even closer together. Tobirama chuckled behind him, deep amused sound. Another wave of shivers washed over Madara as the rumbles coming off Tobirama’s chest reverberated through his own body and the Senju removed the kunai at last and stepped away from him to his mild disappointment.

 

‘Because I didn’t throw any. Look at your forearm properly.’ Tobirama rounded him and caught his wrist to twist his hand. Madara didn’t even protest the pale fingers touching his skin, curious what was the meaning of this. There was an intricate pattern of the hiraishin seal painted with black ink standing out on the light skin of his forearm! Tobirama’s fingers, unexpectedly soft for a seasoned warrior, gently traced the seal, sending myriads of flutters directly into Madara’s stomach.

‘What… When did you put it there?’ Madara was genuinely awestruck. ‘During the taijutsu sparring of course. It’s a matter of second and with some practice it doesn’t leave any sensation upon placing it.’ Tobirama shrugged casually, smug smirk curling the corner of his lips up. ‘Hold still, I’ll remove it.’ Tobirama’s palm started glowing but Madara, to his own huge surprise, swiftly tore his arm away from the younger man’s grip.

‘No! I mean… That’s fine. It might actually come in handy in a battle. I know you’ve placed the same seal on Hashirama and your harpy cousin years ago.’ Madara proceeded to explain when Tobirama arched a questioning brow at him. The other male studied him intently with an expression Madara couldn’t quite place. ‘If you insist…’ He murmured quietly. Madara was getting unnerved by the uncharacteristical behaviour he couldn’t read. He wasn’t used to Tobirama being soft or gentle.

 

Lucky for him, Tobirama’s brats galloping towards them enthusiastically spared him the effort of reacting. ‘Whoa, Madara-sama, that huge fire jutsu you used was so cool! Will you teach me?’ Kagami’s eyes were the size of saucers as he bounced in front of him but the rest of the children looked at Madara with respect and admiration too, despite the fact Tobirama won the match.

‘I didn’t think Tobirama-sensei could win against you, honestly. No offence, sensei, but I always thought Uchiha-sama stronger than you.’ The Shimura kid commented.  ‘That’s because of the mist. If he used this attack on me during normal visibility I probably would have detected it with the sharingan.’ Madara mused out loud.

‘Still the match was really awesome!’ The Sarutobi boy grinned. ‘A privilege to witness.’ The only girl of the group nodded with a smile. ‘Tobirama-sensei, will you show us the summons now?’ The kid with Akimichi crest on his shirt munching on a pastry turned to Tobirama who watched in faint amusement Madara surrounded by his students.

‘You already saw us fighting, Torifune-kun. Isn’t that enough as a treat for your efforts so far?’ Tobirama raised an unimpressed brow. ‘Pretty please, Tobirama-sensei! I’ve been looking forward to it the whole week and I practiced so much!’ Kagami pouted, using the puppy eyes. Combined with his cherubic features this expression was almost irresistible. It saved the demon child from getting punished for countless troubles he caused around the Uchiha compound.

Tobirama held the stare firmly but when the rest of the kids joined Kagami in box of puppies no jutsu, he sighed in resignation. ‘But I expect you to work twice as hard from now on.’ The Senju frowned momentarily. Shouts and squeals of joy resounded across the training grounds and the group of brats promised dutifully. Madara had to chuckle at the display. They obviously adored Tobirama but at the same time, they had their means to soften his stern ways of teaching and get their way.

 

‘I thought you were busy with the delegation coming next week. Don’t you have any better work to do than hang around the whole afternoon, Madara?’ Tobirama turned to him then and crossed him arms. ‘I don’t deserve to be showed your summons for my help with today’s demonstration?’ Madara put his hand on his hips and countered his frown with a smirk. ‘I suppose. Though I didn’t think you are as curious as those kids.’ Tobirama snorted and bit his finger to get some blood.

‘Kuchiose no jutsu!’ His palm hit the ground and a puff of smoke announced arrival of his summon animal. Madara actually took a step forward in anticipation. The smoke dispersed to reveal… An adorable snow leopard cub. It was older than a kitten but obviously not adult yet. Madara should know considering his own summons. ‘Hello, Tobirama-chan! What do you need from me?’ The leopard purred, ignoring the cooing of the group of kids.

‘Hello, Yukitsume. I promised my students I would introduce them to a summon animal if they work diligently. You don’t mind showing yourself to them? This is Uchiha Madara by the way.’ Tobirama bent down to scratch the leopard behind his ears and the cub purred before it bowed to Madara. ‘Greetings, Uchiha-sama, it is an honour to meet you. And to answer your question – it’s no problem at all, Tobi-chan. I was wondering why you summoned me instead of mother. I’d be glad to meet your little friends.’ Yukitsume pressed against Tobirama’s shins before turning towards the group of children.

 

The cub let himself to be petted by the kids patiently. Madara watched the scene smiling (okay, even _he_ found them adorable) as Tobirama stepped next to him. ‘Tobi-chan?’ Madara teased with a chuckle. Tobirama answered with a dismissive scoff. ‘I remember you speaking about your summons. It would be fair to show me as well now you know I have a contract with snow leopards.’ The Senju spoke again after a while of silence, attentive eyes trained on the group surrounding his summon just in case anything unexpected happened.

‘I don’t think they would be that impressed by Shishi or Izumi now that your leopard cub is the centre of attention.’ Madara smirked dryly. ‘My summons are ninja cats.’ He clarified when Tobirama glanced at him quizzically. ‘I see… They should be acquainted with my clowder then. I’d like to meet them sometimes.’ Tobirama nodded in understanding.

‘Why not. You can ask them yourself if they know your bigger cats.’ Madara chuckled. While Tobirama strode to the group to pry the children off his cub, Madara watched him interact with them. While the Senju still wasn’t openly smiling he could distinctly feel his calmness and contentment. And damn it, he was becoming to really like this side of the white-haired man.

 

‘Come on Kagami-kun, it’s time for Yukitsume to return home to his mum.’ The girl bashed the young Uchiha over his curly head as he was reluctant to remove his hands from the fluffy white fur of the leopard. ‘As it’s for you as a matter of fact.’ Tobirama added. ‘You can go now, Tsume. Say hello to Kaida for me please.’ Tobirama then scratched the cub one last time before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Senju then proceeded to point out what the kids should be practicing more at home and finally dismissed them.

 

‘That was a nice demonstration of the classes. I’m fairly content with what I saw so far. I have no problem backing your cause up when you need it.’ Madara broke the silence as they walked back to the village together. ‘Thank you. Both for your help today and for the encouragement. I admit I wouldn’t have guessed you would support me in this endeavour… Or any other, really. It means a lot.’ Tobirama murmured quietly, glancing at Madara from the corner of his eye before focusing his eyes stubbornly ahead. Madara would almost say the Senju was shy if he didn’t know him.

‘Eh. It’s fine. Don’t mention it.’ Madara shrugged awkwardly, slightly clueless how to react. For some reason he really didn’t want to offend Tobirama right now. The other seemed to relax a little though so he probably didn’t mess up. They walked the rest of their short journey in silence, both of them immersed in their own thoughts.

 

‘Well. I believe that's our parting point. Thanks once again. Have a nice evening, Madara.’ Tobirama nodded to him when they stopped at the crossroad where they were supposed to part ways towards their respective compounds. ‘You as well. See you tomorrow at work, Tobirama.’ Madara nodded back and he didn’t fight to hide the sincere smile that tugged at his lips.

‘Ah, indeed. Until tomorrow then.’ Madara’s heart made a salto as Tobirama’s cheeks flushed faint pink and he answered with a tiny smile of his own before he quickly turned on his heel to continue on his way with long determined strides. Madara had no idea Tobirama could look so damn adorable when flustered. The Uchiha caught himself staring at his retreating form with besotted grin and he groaned audibly before he too turned around and headed home. Kami help him, he had it really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, what do you say? I wanna know so badly! Your comments on the first chapter amazed and amused me so much, thank you all for leaving them and kudos as well! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry in advance, this chapter is not very heavily edited. No time for that, we die like men, lol.
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Madara half expected an assault from Izuna when he slipped through the front door of their shared house but so far no bouncing siblings appeared to nag him about the afternoon spent in Tobirama’s presence. That could mean that Kagami didn’t stop by in his excitement and ran straight to brag about today’s training to the rest of Uchiha children or that Izuna was plotting something with Hikaku.

 

Deciding resolutely he wouldn’t waste energy trying to find out Madara went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Stripped out of his armour and clothes he stepped into the shower and blissfully hot water started running down onto his body. Madara closed his eyes and groaned in satisfaction. Whoever it was who came up with the idea of installing water pipe system in the newly built village was to be praised forever. Giving it a second thought, Madara was fairly sure it might very well be one of Tobirama’s innovations and improvements.

 

Suddenly Madara’s eyes flew wide open as he had an overwhelming urge to check his forearm. Just as fast as his panic rose he calmed down, reassured the black ink of hiraishin seal wouldn’t be washed away with the water. He even shook his head at himself and snorted. Of course it wouldn’t just wash away, Tobirama wanted to remove it using chakra. He had to be using some special kind of ink that soaked immediately into the skin.

Madara deliberately took time to inspect the seal closely. It was entirely too complicated for his understanding as his fuuinjutsu skills were quite poor but he strangely liked the way it stood out against the skin of his forearm even though he wasn’t very much into tattoos and markings some of other clans liked to use. It almost felt as if it was always destined to be there. He stubbornly refused to acknowledge what he actually liked the most about it was the fact he was now bearing a mark of Senju Tobirama.

 

That meant Tobirama could hiraishin himself to him any time he wanted now. He could very well choose this moment and appear right in front of him, in his shower with Madara naked as the gods created him. Just a few days prior that idea would sound abhorrent to him but now his cock twitched with interest as Madara recalled vividly the way Tobirama moved around the battlefield and how delightfully slim-fitting his pants were. One had to be wondering how he looked like underneath his garments.

 

Just as his hand wandered downwards to deal with the sudden boner, front door of the house snapped audibly shut. ‘Aniki, are you home yet?’ Izuna’s ringing voice resounded around the house. Madara groaned audibly in annoyance and automatically turned the water colder. No way he was having some fun while thinking of Tobirama now. Izuna had to spoil everything.

‘Yeah, I’m in the bathroom.’ Madara answered to his annoying sibling, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. ‘Great, I’ll start with dinner! Will you make the dessert?’ Izuna yelled from the depths of the house again. ‘Fine. At least something will be edible then.’ Madara groused in response and proceeded to ignore Izuna’s indignant blathering about getting at least a bit better, _admit it, brother!_ ’

 

He finished his shower quickly and went to the kitchen to supervise Izuna’s attempts at something that at closer inspection appeared to be a miso soup with mushrooms. Madara wasn’t a big fan of mushrooms but he was willing to try for the sake of brotherly affections. There hopefully wasn’t much to mess up on a soup, was there?

‘Look what I have!’ Izuna gestured him closer while stirring the suspiciously coloured broth with his other hand. Madara was distinctly sure miso soup wasn’t supposed to be bright red but he didn’t dare to question what kind of seasoning did Izuna put in there. Instead he looked over his brother’s shoulder at the item he was pointing at – a pouch full of blueberries.

‘Where did you get them?’ Madara popped one into his mouth. Sweet and ripe, just the way they should be for a nice blueberry pie. ‘I, eh, went for a walk? And found them on the way.’ Izuna mumbled a very poorly delivered excuse. ‘You mean you were trailing after the Senju woman again?’ Madara needled with a wicked grin.

 

Touka went at least once a week out hunting. Just for sport, to keep her hunter senses sharp or whatever. It was kind of disturbing how dangerous the woman was and how smitten with her Izuna happened to be because of that. Madara was convinced his brother had to have some kind of a masochistic kink. Not that he wanted to know anything about that, no thank you.

‘I mean we went for a walk _together._ ’ Izuna threw him an affronted glare. At Madara’s raised brow his shoulders slumped in defeat and he sighed. ‘Touka went hunting and she let me tag along and carry her catches back into the village. I’m not sure she likes me or she just needs a slave.’ Izuna admitted the truth. In Madara’s view, it was probably both cases at once when the Senju harpy was the concern. While she certainly enjoyed torturing him, Touka wouldn’t bother with Izuna if she didn’t actually like him but Madara wasn’t about to voice his assumptions. Izuna deserved to suffer a bit.

‘We found those in the forest. Touka told me to pick them and give them to you. She said something about you bringing the pie on Sunday to Hashirama’s? You are usually visiting on Sunday, right?’ Izuna busied himself with chopping the mushrooms. Madara only prayed Touka wouldn’t let him pick up any poisonous ones. Or at least lethally poisonous.

‘Usually. But why the blueberry pie?’ Madara was a bit confused. ‘No idea. She only told me you can send her a gift basket later.’ Izuna shrugged, the tip of his tongue peeking out of his mouth as he focused on the task at hand. ‘Alright?’ Madara shrugged as well. That explanation didn’t help one bit but he decidedly didn’t want to know what processes were occurring in Touka’s head. Senju most definitely _were_ a weird bunch.

 

The dinner ended up to be mostly edible. Not even the anticipated stomach-ache from the food poisoning did appear afterwards and the dango Madara made as a dessert saved his tastes. Tired after the afternoon training he went straight to bed when he finished his meal, leaving Izuna to deal with all the dirtied pots and plates. It was entirely his fault he always used so many after all.

 

 

 

Madara wasn’t in the best mood the next day when he stumbled into his office. He couldn’t fall asleep for a long time and just kept tossing and turning the whole night, waking up several times from the dreams he didn’t remember but was pretty sure were filled with a certain white-haired Senju.

He haven't seen Tobirama so far but he heard him around ten o’clock arguing with Hashirama. ‘Anija, I warn you for the last time – stop pushing my nerves. Just drop the subject already, I can deal with it myself.’ Tobirama’s thundering voice resounded over the corridor as he passed the door to Madara’s office on his way from the hokage office to his own.

‘But Tobi, I’m just concerned for you!’ Hashirama wailed dramatically. Madara could practically see his heart wrenching pout and watery eyes even through the wall separating them. The only response was a loud bang of the door shutting behind the younger brother. As expected, the elder one barged into Madara’s office not three seconds later.

 

‘Why are those younger brothers so obstinate? Is Izuna like this too?’ Hashirama didn’t even bother greeting him and slumped onto the chair on the other side of Madara’s table. ‘What’s the matter?’ Madara felt the need to have some information first before judging who was at blame for this argument.

‘Tobirama’s wounded! He has a bandage over his biceps and when I asked him he said he acquired it in a fight. But he refused to tell me who did it to him!’ Hashirama frowned and crossed his arms petulantly. Once again he was in his overprotective mode.

‘Erm. Did he say why he didn’t want to tell you?’ Madara grimaced and stifled a wince. ‘He only said it’s none of my business what he does in his spare time. It couldn’t be Izuna, he was with Touka yesterday. What if someone from the village attacked him? What if someone wants him dead? What if we have a traitor in our lines? What if…’ Hashirama jumped off his chair and started pacing, throwing arms up in rising exasperation.

 

Madara decided he had to be stopped before he winded himself up into the wildest scenarios imaginable and did something stupid. While Hashirama loved and cared for Konoha as if it was his baby (and it was, in a way), the life of his only remaining sibling was far more precious to him. Of course he would tear the world apart to protect Tobirama.

‘Relax, it was me. I helped him with his classes yesterday and hit him with a kunai while we were sparring.’ Madara poured a cup of tea and placed it on the table for Hashirama. The other man whipped around in surprise. ‘You? Helping him? But why does Tobirama have to be so secretive about it?’ Hashirama sat down again, grabbing the cup just to clutch at something.

 

‘No idea. Anyway, you don’t have to be so scared for him all the time. Tobirama can take care of himself. He was able to defeat me in a combat actually.’ Madara leaned over the table to pat Hashirama’s hand in means to calm him down.

‘What’s this?’ Hashirama slammed the cup down and caught Madara’s wrist in a vice grip. As the Uchiha stretched his hand, his sleeve rolled up and revealed the hiraishin seal. ‘Is that one of Tobirama’s seals?’ Hashirama’s eyes widened comically to the point they threatened to bulge out of his skull. ‘Erm. Yes. He actually used it to outsmart me during out combat yesterday.’ Madara explained reluctantly.

Hashirama’s lower lip started quivering and big fat tears rolled down his cheeks just like that. ‘Why are you crying?’ Madara panicked. Hashirama’s mood swings were still a bit of mystery for him even after all those years. ‘I’m… I’m just really happy.’ Hashirama sniffed and Madara handed him one of the paper towels stored in his table for this kind of situations.

 

Hashirama accepted it and cleaned his nose before he spoke again. ‘Tobirama only placed this seal on four people so far. Me, Touka, Mito and now you. That means he takes you as a really close person! I always knew you guys could be good friends if you got past your initial antipathy and…’ At that point Madara tuned Hashirama’s litany out as the information quite frankly blew his mind.

It was understandable Tobirama would mark his family, the closest people he had and cared for. But why marking Madara then? Not even Izuna was apparently given this privilege and they were, according to the younger Uchiha, best friends. Madara looked at the black ink on his forearm with renewed awe. It was far more precious to him now and he tore his hand out of Hashirama’s grip as he suddenly hated the way the other man kept touching it.

‘I see. Well, now your mystery was solved, you should perhaps return to your office and do some actual work. I have tons of stuff to go through myself.’ Madara spoke first to silence Hashirama, who yelped  in shock that Madara used such force to get his hand back. ‘Fine, fine. You’re probably right. I shouldn’t piss Tobirama off any more today…’ Hashirama’s shoulders slumped and he drank the last bits of his tea before he jumped off Madara’s window and finally let him alone.

Madara had problems to focus on his work through the rest of the day. His eyes kept flickering to his hand and he rolled his sleeve up several times just to stare at the seal and wonder. He firmly decided to be more careful with it and keep it a secret from Izuna as long as possible because his brother wouldn’t let him live it down.

 

The rest of the day flew past him as if he was in trance and he had troubles sleeping again, his mind confused and filled with conflicted emotions. On Saturday he mostly did some reading and then took out his falcons to train with them. Izuna was somewhere out the whole day so he didn’t even have to deal with his stupid jokes and suggestions.

 

 

Sunday morning he did make the blueberry pie, reluctantly obeying Touka's suggestion and in time for the afternoon tea ventured to the Senju compound to visit Hashirama and Mito. His visits were so frequent not one Senju batted an eyelash upon meeting him, most of them even nodded their heads as greetings or wished a good day to him.

Stopping in front of the door of the hokage household, Madara knocked with one hand, balancing the box with the pie in his other but no one appeared to answer even after he knocked again. That was suspicious, Hashirama was usually waiting just behind the door to launch himself on Madara the second he appeared and try to squeeze the very soul out of his body with the crushing bear hug (a very annoying habit of his).

 

Just as he was about to leave thinking maybe Hashirama went for an afternoon stroll with his wife, the door opened a crack, revealing Hashirama in a very dishevelled state. His long dark brown hair was a mess and clothes seemed to be haphazardly thrown on in an attempt to get dressed as fast as possible. Madara immediately understood what he accidentally interrupted and winced.

‘Ah! Madara! We… Eh heh, how to phrase it. Lost the track of time somehow? I totally forgot you were coming over…’ Hashirama was chuckling awkwardly, scratching behind his ear. ‘That’s fine, you have every right to… Erm. Enjoy your free afternoon with your lovely wife.’ Madara grimaced at his own phrasing.

‘Yeah, we were just…’ Hashirama apparently failed to find any suitable words and Madara was really glad for it. ‘Please don’t continue. I understand completely. I’ll be going then. See you tomorrow at work.’ The Uchiha interrupted just in case Hashirama still decided to finish his awkward explanation what exactly was he and Mito doing that required lack of clothing.

 

‘Wait, you can perhaps visit Tobirama instead? Now you are friends…?’ Hashirama’s hand on his shoulder prevented him from fleeing. ‘He’s kind of prickly since yesterday. He has some problems with his research or stuff, I don’t really understand it. Perhaps you could give him some advice?’ The dark-haired Senju looked at Madara expectantly.

‘Why do you think I will be able to help in any way?’ Madara blurted out, genuinely confused. Tobirama was so much smarter than him when it came to inventing new stuff. ‘It was something about new kind of explosive tags. Katon jutsu are your forte, aren’t they? You might have some valuable insight.’ Hashirama explained. ‘What makes you think he won’t just shut the door into my face?’ Madara tilted his head doubtfully.

‘He wouldn’t do that. Tobirama respects you more than he lets on, I’m sure of that.’ Hashirama beamed reassuringly. ‘If you say so…’ Madara mumbled. ‘For kami’s sake, just go there and play shogi with him, that will do. Tobirama loves shogi. I need my husband back in the bed now.’ Mito’s voice came through the crack in the door and Madara’s ears went red while Hashirama laughed a little too forcibly.

‘Alright. If I don’t show up tomorrow you know your lovely brother blew me into the space or something.’ Madara nodded stiffly and turned on his heel, determined to get out of the Senju den as soon as possible. ‘I’m certain nothing of that sort will happen. See you!’ Hashirama waved enthusiastically until a hand with perfectly manicured nails grabbed his collar and dragged him back in. Madara forced all the scenarios his treacherous brain presented to him out of his mind and walked a little faster to put some distance between him and the house of fright.

 

Walking the short distance towards the house Hashirama built for Tobirama when he moved out of the bigger one to make space for Mito, Madara’s brain froze in processing if Hashirama actually knew about the newly discovered attraction to Tobirama. Most likely not. Hashirama was famous for being an oblivious fool. If he knew he wouldn’t let Madara as much as lay eyes on his baby brother, much less directly send him to spend some time alone with him in his own house.

 

Madara stared at Tobirama’s door a full minute before he finally gathered enough courage to knock. It was followed by a loud bang and the noise of glass breaking, a few muttered curses and then furious stomping towards the door. ‘Hashirama, I distinctly remember telling you not to bother me any more unless it’s an emergency situation so someone better be dying or else it’s going to be you!’ Tobirama’s head peeked out of the opened door to glare a hole into the Uchiha standing behind them.

‘Oh. It’s you. What are you doing here?’ Tobirama paused for a moment and blinked several times in surprise. ‘Hey. Well, your brother sent me over. He’s… Erm. Busy at the moment with his wife.’ Madara explained and shook a bit to get rid of the scenarios again. ‘Ah, this. Mito apparently wants a baby.’ Tobirama enlightened him with stoic expression.

‘I see. That’s… Good for them. Anyway, you seem to be pretty busy yourself so I shall not bother you.’ Madara, taking in the image of Tobirama’s state – a few burned holes in the sleeves of the white cloak he was wearing, hair sticking in all the weird directions and a black smudge on his cheek – decided it would be best to retreat and leave Tobirama to his devices. ‘It’s fine, I wanted to take a break anyway. And since you’re already here…’ Tobirama stepped out of the way and gestured inside. ‘Alright.’ Madara didn’t dare to protest.

 

‘Here, make yourself comfortable. What kind of tea do you drink?’ Tobirama led him to his living room and disappeared in the room that was probably a kitchen. ‘Do you have kocha?’ Madara asked after he deposited the box with the pie onto the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. ‘Sure. I prefer sencha myself but I’m well stocked.’ Tobirama responded from the other room.

While his tea was being prepared, Madara had time to look around. Tobirama’s home was something that defined him perfectly. It was some unique mixture between neat organisation and utter chaos. Everything seemed to have its precise place but the way Tobirama’s things were organized couldn’t possibly make any sense to anyone else but him.

There were books everywhere, on the shelves and tall columns here and there, some of them opened or wedged with a paper on pages some important stuff was to be found. They were accompanied by countless scrolls filled with notes, diagrams and schemes, several weird flasks and jars filled with unknown liquids and powders and devices Tobirama should probably keep in his lab instead of his living room.

 

Tobirama appeared in the middle of all that carrying a tray with steaming cups. He had shed his lab coat and now was wearing only a thin light blue sleeveless yukata. Madara had to swallow a bit as his throat went dry at the sight of the white skin of toned arms displayed to him. How would it feel like being held in those? Was the skin as smooth as it looked like? His eyes paused at the bandage wrapped around the cut he caused the previous day and he again felt a bit guilty.

 

‘There.’ Tobirama put one of the cups in front of Madara and sat down next to him clutching his own. ‘Thank you. How come you mistook me for Hashirama anyway? Didn’t you sense me coming?’ Madara snapped out of his daydreaming and finally had the opportunity to ask. ‘I’m tuning down my chakra awareness as much as I can while doing research. It’s quite distracting feeling the whole village full of several hundreds of people around me when I need to focus.’ Tobirama sipped on his tea.

‘You can just turn it off and on again?’ Madara tilted his head. ‘I wish. No, not really. It’s a bit more complicated than that.’ Tobirama smirked humourlessly. ‘Do tell then. We have plenty of time.’ Madara was intrigued how the whole sensor thing worked. And he felt an urge to soak every new information about Tobirama the younger man was willing to give.

 

‘Fine. You know what a sage mode is from Hashirama, right?’ Tobirama sunk a bit lower into the sofa to make himself more comfortable. ‘That thing involving those ridiculous markings on his face, making him look like a raccoon?’ Madara chuckled. Hashirama looked pretty funny while using the sage mode but the results were damn terrifying.

‘Yeah, exactly that.’ Tobirama smirked at Madara’s joke. ‘You have a basic knowledge how it works? He’s using nature energy to strengthen his mokuton.’ Tobirama continued and Madara nodded. So far he could follow. ‘Well, when I was a child, it turned out I was born extremely sensitive to nature energy. To put it short, it seeps into my body and merges with my own chakra on its own and it’s very hard for me to prevent that.’ Tobirama explained.

‘You mean your markings…’ Madara’s eyes widened. ‘Yes, you’re catching up pretty quickly. They are no tattoos. They are markings of permanent sage mode I’m stuck in. That’s why I can sense chakra so well. If I allowed myself to the full sage-mode, they would spread further over my body.’ Tobirama confirmed his assumptions. How far would they stretch was something Madara would think about later when alone.

‘I learned to tune it down a bit over the years but for example, I can’t still be near Hashirama when he’s using his own sage mode, his signature is too bright for me. It feels like I’m in the middle of the hurricane and I literally can’t even breathe.’ The Senju traced the brim of his cup with his index finger.

 

‘I had no idea mere chakra signature could have such an influence on anyone.’ Madara admitted. ‘You can feel the difference between people’s chakra too though, don’t you?’ Tobirama pointed out. ‘I do. Izuna for example feels like the air after storm, ozone with lingering sparks of thunderbolts. Hashirama on the other hand reminds me of a meadow in spring, full of blooming flowers and a gurgling stream.’ Madara nodded.

‘That’s a good description of them. What about me?’ Tobirama inclined his head curiously. ‘You? Well, it differs. When you’re pissed or we’re arguing about something I feel like I’m on a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean during storm, waves trying to drag me under and drown me.’ Madara answered the best he could. ‘And now?’ Tobirama leaned a bit closer in anticipation.

‘Now…’ Madara screwed his eyes shut to focus properly. ‘An early sunrise on the beach. Fresh salty air filling my lungs. It’s a bit chilly but the first rays of sunshine are already peeking over the horizon. Gentle waves are washing over the shore, brushing my bare legs and the sea is calling me…’ Madara opened his eyes again to see Tobirama watching him intently with an expression of wonder. ‘I see.’ The Senju murmured and averted his eyes to his cup. Madara did the same.

 

‘And me?’ The Uchiha was curious. ‘It’s a bit like with Hashirama. Your chakra signature is a significant one too. Like a living fire. When you’re angry I can physically feel it burning me, trying to scorch me to the crisp leaving anything behind but ash and dust and smoke.’ Tobirama was still focused on his tea. ‘Am I hurting you too?’ Madara yelped. He didn’t really want to hurt Tobirama for years now.

‘Not at the moment. Right now you feel like… A warm hearth in the middle of winter inviting me to sit down and cuddle in a pile of blankets in front of it. I smell apples and cinnamon and tea. It’s very calming and cozy. It feels like… Home.’ Tobirama peeked at Madara through his white lashes, his expression soft and vulnerable.

 

‘Oh.’ Madara only murmured dumbly. He wouldn’t have ever guessed someone could describe him like that. Most of the people maintained a safe distance from him, not getting too close from the respect and fear alike. To think someone would deem his presence as calming was… Unexpectedly heart-warming. And if you added the fact it was Tobirama who apparently liked to be around him…

 

‘I’d almost forget! I brought a pie.’ Madara gestured towards the box awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. ‘You did? I’ve been wondering what was in the box.’ Tobirama smiled, obviously relieved as well at the change of subject. ‘Yeah. Izuna found some blueberries the other day and I had some spare time to bake so…’ Madara scratched behind his ear. Not many people knew about his baking hobby.

‘Oh really? Blueberries are my favourite. I haven’t had them for quite some time though.’ Tobirama’s eyes lit up with excitement, resembling a child who was given a treat. So _that_ was the reason he was supposed to bring the blueberry pie. Sneaky. ‘Let’s try it out then before the tea gets cold.’ Madara suggested, smiling. Tobirama nodded and hurried to the kitchen to get plates and forks. Madara had to stifle a sigh, thus adorable the man looked like.

 

Tobirama returned in a few seconds and handed Madara a knife. ‘You should serve it.’ He gestured to the box, visibly containing his impatience. Madara took his sweet time cutting the pie and depositing it on the plates. ‘Here you go.’ He handed one of them to Tobirama who was eyeing the piece of cake with anticipation of a four years old about to unwrap their Christmas gifts.

‘Itadakimasu!’ Tobirama wished him and dug in. Madara watched him, inadvertently holding his breath. The Senju closed his eyes and moaned around his first mouthful. Madara shivered at the sound and his cheeks heated up. He didn’t expect such a reaction but Tobirama moaning because of his efforts was something he didn’t know he needed in his life.

 

‘This is actually divine. I love it.’ Tobirama, too preoccupied with stuffing his faces, luckily didn’t notice the way Madara kept watching him. ‘Glad to hear that. Help yourself to more if you want.’ Madara chuckled, genuinely happy Tobirama’s obvious contentment was his work. ‘I’ll most definitely will, thanks.’ Tobirama glanced at him and smiled. Madara’s breath hitched and he coughed as a crumble of his own mouthful got to the wrong pipe.

‘You alright?’ Tobirama patted his back. ‘Yeah… I’m… Fine.’ Madara coughed several more times and looked up. Tobirama’s face was mere inches away from his, ruby red orbs looking at him with concern. Madara’s eyes slid down the freckled cheeks and towards the thin lips, slightly parted and a bit of blueberry jam staining them. His hand reached out in its own accord to wipe it off with his thumb.

Tobirama’s eyes widened slightly at the touch and Madara could feel him shiver. The temptation to close the short distance and taste those smooth lips was almost unbearable but in the end Madara came back to his senses, retracted his hand and backed away a few inches. There was no way Tobirama would appreciate the kiss. It was sheer luck he was still having his hand intact.

 

Tobirama blinked several times and did the same, turning his attention back to the plate in his hand. Madara was almost sure he could hear him sigh but that could also just be his wild imagination playing with him. They ate in silence for a minute or two, both of them wrapped in their own thoughts. Finally Madara couldn’t bear it any longer. ‘Mito told me something about your fondness of shogi?’ He ventured carefully. ‘Yeah, she’s right. Although it’s hard to find a decent opponent that would pose some challenge.’ Tobirama shrugged.

‘Oh, someone’s pretty sure about his skills. Care to play with me?’ Madara smirked. ‘If you think you can keep up with me…’ Tobirama finally looked at him again, matching the smirk with his own. The Uchiha was glad the awkwardness following his advance at Tobirama was forgotten. The Senju cleared the coffee table and brought the shogi board. He had a beautifully carved set of shogi, no doubt Hashirama’s work.

First round was won by Tobirama but Madara did challenge him quite a bit so he agreed to a rematch. Second match was Madara’s and so they had to play the third round to determine the ultimate winner. Unsurprisingly it was Tobirama who won in the end but to Madara’s surprise he wasn’t too smug about it.

 

‘It’s getting late and I bothered you long enough. I should go home.’ Madara looked out of the window, finding out it was getting dark outside. ‘You haven’t bothered me at all. I’m glad you kept me company for a while. It lifted my mood.’ Tobirama rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. ‘That’s good to hear. Thanks for the tea and the game.’ Madara let Tobirama walk him to the door.

 

‘You can keep the rest of the pie as the winning prize.’ He stopped outside, on the contrary to his words somehow unwilling to leave just yet. ‘Oh. How gracious of you. Thanks, it’s really delicious.’ Tobirama smiled at him. Madara contemplated getting his heart checked as it started beating all too fast again. ‘Well, guess I’ll be going then. I enjoyed myself.’ Madara nodded stiffly.

‘I should like you visiting again then.’ Tobirama blushed that adorable way he did a few days before and it took Madara all the willpower to contain himself. ‘I should like that too. Good night, Tobirama.’ Madara reached out to caress Tobirama’s cheek and turned on his heel before he could do something stupid like kiss the smile off Tobirama’s face. ‘Good night to you as well, Madara.’ The soft reply reached his ears before he heard the door shut.

 

Walking back home, Madara hid his face into his palm for a moment. Was he falling for Tobirama? The immediate answer was yes. Now Tobirama felt comfortable enough around him to lower his boundaries, Madara got to discover his real personality. And the more he found about the man the more entranced he was by him. But was there any chance of Tobirama returning the feelings? That was something that needed further investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me long enough to write this, huh? But I hope it was worth the waiting. Let me know!
> 
> And as always, thanks for all your kind reviews and kudos! You always make me smile so much! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaargh, finally! For fucks sake, I finished this, yaaaaaas bitch! 
> 
> *clears throat* Pardon my language. My muse was extremely fickle while writing this, it really wasn't easy at all to finish this chapter! I'm convinced third of the word count on this chapter is either "Madara" or "Tobirama" but I didn't have the strenght to do anything about it. Sorry in advance.
> 
> Enjoy!

Next few days had Madara out of his office as he was extremely busy personally inspecting the village borders, watch outposts and all security measures. Coming meticulously through the mission reports during past weeks, he selected only the top shinobi to be assigned to patrols and watches over the visit of the Mizukage.

It was a friendly visit for negotiations Hashirama invited the man for but they were taking no chances. One won’t be surprised by the betrayal if you’re prepared for it just in case. While Hashirama was still kind of naïve, Madara with Tobirama agreed to tread cautiously and their hokage admitted they were right. And if nothing unexpected happened, Konoha would still make an impression of a strong village it was, not to be trifled with.

He didn’t have time or energy for thinking too much about anything else aside from his assignments but when he dropped into his bed Wednesday evening, feeling like all the life force was drained out of him, his thoughts wandered towards a certain silver-haired man.

 

Madara haven’t seen Tobirama since his visit in the Senju compound and he actually missed the man. The way his sharp features softened when he was amused. The freckles dusting his slightly upturned nose. Impossible to be missed shine of his silvery-white hair. The ridiculous fur collar he insisted upon wearing. The mischievous glint in his eyes when he uttered some remark that riled Madara up. To hell, even their unending banter and creative insults Tobirama came up with.

 

The dark-haired man groaned and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling as if it held all the questions to his problems. There was no point denying he developed a crush on Tobirama that could very easily change into something more, given time and effort. But was it even a good idea?

Come to think about it, he didn’t even know if Tobirama was into men. He never saw him with anyone as Tobirama kept everyone at arm’s length and guarded his privacy tightly. Not even Hashirama ever mentioned anything and Hashirama loved to gossip, no matter how much he would deny it.

And then there was a matter of their respective clans. Obviously they were allies now, living together and running a village but sometimes the tension was still palpable, especially between the elders. While Hashirama already got married and as Madara was informed (although he could certainly live without such knowledge) working on his heirs, Madara had no idea what expectations now his clan had for the younger Senju, who was still second to Hashirama should anything happen.

And of course he could imagine what kind of reactions would his relationship with a man stir in the midst of the Uchiha clan. Some of the more conservative elders kept bringing up the matter of his marriage and producing heirs any other clan meeting. He was pretty sure some of his clan members had their suspicion about his orientation but so far he hasn’t declared anything publicly and no one had the gall to ask.

 

As far as he was concerned, Madara was quite ready to name Izuna and his potential heirs as his successors but that would meet with lots of protests, mostly idiotic yet some not entirely unfounded. The main issue was that while Izuna was an exceptionally capable and strong shinobi (and a testimony to that was his capability to keep up with Tobirama), his sense of responsibility wasn’t as strong as it should be, if you put it nicely. It would take a lot of efforts to make a respectable Uchiha clan head material out of the dolt.

If you added a cherry on top that the man Madara would denounce the position of the clan head for would be Senju Tobirama, a man who personally caused deaths of dozens of the Uchiha during the war times and who was still feared, mistrusted, most of the clan members still held him in check and generally avoided any interaction with him unless absolutely necessary, the resulting clashes were most likely going to be gruesome.

 

Aside from the formal obstacles, Madara still wasn’t sure how to proceed. He did want Tobirama for himself and he was more and more realizing it wasn’t but a passing fancy. This was something different from his previous involvements. He wasn’t exactly apt in wooing someone and much less in making them stay.

But was he ready to bind himself to anyone? To commit his life to one person forever? Was Tobirama? Was there even a chance of the Senju ever reciprocating the feelings? If yes, how would their close families react? There was no way he would avoid a literal emotional shitstorm once Hashirama discovered the truth.

 

That was entirely too many questions to ponder about while one was suffering from a headache, therefore Madara took one of the sleeping pills clan medics prescribed him to use in case of having nightmares preventing him from falling asleep and decided to push those thoughts out of his mind for now. Those were decisions to be made with clear head, not when they had Mizukage arriving the next day.

 

₪₪₪

 

First Mizukage Byakuren was from the first sight old stiff patron, not entirely dissimilar from the clan elders in the village council they had to deal with on a daily basis. He arrived accompanied by a whole procession of the Kiri shinobi clad in armour, therefore he had to be a bit paranoid or he was planning something shady. Either way, Madara and his forces were prepared to squash any attempts for an attack any time.

Hashirama was wearing his ceremonial white-red hokage robes with the ridiculous triangular hat and everything and Mito a few steps behind him was clad in regally looking robes as well, maintaining her queen-like appearance she was well-known for. The rest of the party accompanying the Shodai hokage to welcome the delegation by the village gates, besides Madara consisting of Izuna, Hikaku, Touka and Tobirama, was wearing their full armour.

After initial formalities and necessary pleasantries, the group accompanied the Mizukage into the residence Hashirama specifically built for any important visiting emissaries and Hashirama with Mito went ahead to the hokage tower.

 

Up until now Madara didn’t have a chance to speak with Tobirama more than greeting each other but now was the opportunity to correct that. ‘So, what do you think of him so far?’ Madara said casually towards Tobirama who was watching Izuna trying to get Touka’s attention with mild interest.

‘Clearly sort of guy who clings to the old ways. He probably accepted the invitation mainly to check Konoha’s strength out personally. I estimate any negotiations won’t get as smoothly as Hashirama imagined.’ Tobirama turned his attention to him after a short pause. Meanwhile Izuna kept bragging about his cooking skills, demanding poor Hikaku, who clearly didn’t want to be involved at all, to verify his claims. Both Tobirama and Madara snorted in unison.

‘Agreed. And I don’t like that dark-haired guy who acts as his personal guard.’ Madara shared his suspicion about one of the party members. ‘That one with silver pearls in his hair? Yeah, his chakra signature is reeking of badly concealed hostile intents. I’m keeping my eyes on him.’ Tobirama nodded seriously.

 

‘What were you up to past few days anyway? How are your brats?’ Madara inquired conversationally. ‘I cancelled any classes while the Mizukage is in the village. Smooth running of the negotiations and security of our hokage and citizens are a priority. They are to train on their own.’ Tobirama explained. ‘And between you and me, I needed to take some rest from their unending enthusiasm. They can be… A little overwhelming.’ He added with a sigh, drawing a chuckle out of the Uchiha.

‘I imagine. Kagami on his own is an unstoppable force of nature and you have six of them. So… You might be free some evening?’ Madara surprised himself by the question. He wasn’t inadvertently asking the Senju out. No. Of course he wasn’t. Oh was he?

‘Why, you need to discuss anything?’ Tobirama cocked his head in interest. ‘Actually I was thinking just for a friendly chat. I reckon we’ll be pretty stressed by the end of the day so maybe dinner and shogi?’ Madara scratched behind his ear in a nervous gesture.

‘Are you inviting me over?’ Tobirama blinked rapidly several times and tilted his head on the other side. He strikingly reminded Madara of a curious kitten. ‘No ulterior motives!’ Madara blurted out in his defence, waving his hands wildly and causing Tobirama frown. His shouting interrupted the banter of Touka, Izuna and Hikaku and turned the trio’s attention to them.

 

‘What’s all this ruckus about?’ Izuna was first to ask, demonstrating once more just how nosy he liked to be. ‘None of your concern. And it’s impolite to listen to other people’s conversation, in case you didn’t know.’ Madara snapped, immediately in his prickly mode. ‘Alright, alright! You don’t have to bite my head off for an innocent question.’ Izuna wilted.

‘Hey, Uchiha! Did you like my little advice the other day?’ Touka’s face split in that deceiving overly sweet smile of hers that usually meant trouble. ‘Oh, he did as you said but refused to share any details.’ Izuna answered instead of his brother. ‘D’awww, cruel! Why Madara-chan, don’t be shy! Give us some information!’ Touka cackled at Madara’s warning growl. Hikaku kept looking from one person to another, obviously not comprehending. Tobirama assumed his usual impassive expression the moment their private chat was interrupted.

 

‘They are giving me a headache. We should brief with Hashirama.’ Madara grumbled, turned on his heel and took long strides towards the hokage tower where the first round of negotiations was to be held later during the day. ‘Dinner sounds good. If he’s not cooking.’ Tobirama fell in step with him a few seconds later and gestured at Izuna way behind them.

‘No worries, he’ll be banned from the kitchen. I’m already fed up with his experiments. We’ll discuss the details later, alright?’ Madara reassured. ‘Fine. Let me know when I should come.’ Tobirama inclined his head. They walked the rest of the way in silence, occasionally exchanging exasperated eye-rolls when the snippets of the mostly one-sided conversation between Izuna and Touka came to their ears. He was trying so much it was almost pathetic.

 

 

When they arrived to the hokage office, Mito was sitting comfortably on Hashirama’s lap and they were talking quietly and giggling. ‘Erm. Hokage-sama. Everything is set according to the plans described in the scroll I gave you yesterday and I trust you’ve studied thoroughly.’ Madara cleared his throat to interrupt their lovey-dovey moment and reported. From the wide apologetic smile Hashirama produced was clear he didn’t read a shit.

‘Patrols have been set all around the residence and they are to change regularly so the building is being watched 24/7.’ Madara specified with irritated undertone. ‘I raised the barrier as Madara requested and I’m monitoring the location from afar, nothing should escape our attention. Unusual chakra signatures on the perimeter of 30 miles from the village borders negative.’ Tobirama added, similarly miffed.

‘I fully trust you two with the village security. I knew I could count on you!’ Hashirama clapped his hands cheerfully. ‘And look how good they cooperate when they put their minds into it! Maybe you could assign them for _that_ mission together after all.’ Mito suggested enigmatically. ‘What mission?’ Madara was puzzled. What kind of mission could require both of them cooperating? Probably hell of a nightmare. They would be able to wipe out whole nations together if they wished so.

‘That’s not of utmost importance for now. It’s risky but Mito has a point. I actually kind of hoped to send you two and now you’re getting along so splendidly… Once we deal with this business and the opportunity is right, I’ll brief you on the details.’ Hashirama nodded happily.

 

‘Alright. Are we dismissed now?’ Tobirama asked simply. Just a few weeks ago such a suggestion of Madara and Tobirama going on a mission together would cause a major shouting match resulting in demand of Hashirama undertaking a medical evaluation of his sanity but now the Senju seemed cool with the idea. Madara himself didn’t have any complaints either. More time with Tobirama alone? Who was he to say no to that.

‘Yes. We’ll meet at two o’clock. Please dress into some more formal clothes. It’s going to be a diplomatic meeting, not a bloody battle.’ Hashirama gestured towards the armour they were both clad in. ‘Not necessarily a different thing.’ Tobirama pointed out. ‘Understood, see you in a few hours.’ Madara answered for both of them and saw himself out to get rid of the picture of the cooing couple. Not that he was envious, mind you.

 

₪₪₪

 

The negotiations were incredibly dull. Byakuren was talking so slowly it took ages to explain any of his views and his monotone was lulling Madara to sleeping while standing behind Hashirama. Tobirama next to him wasn’t looking much better. Well, the Senju _did_ look exceptionally fine in his formal dark blue kimono but that was beside the point.

First day they were just suffering quietly but when the same scenario repeated the next one Madara decided something had to be done. And why not taking it as an opportunity to try any of his new jokes on Tobirama? Those he came up with since their lunch in Akimichi restaurant were particularly brilliant in his opinion.

The Mizukage was just in the middle of yet another monologue on agriculture on the islands of the Land of Water, Hashirama and the few of the council members present were listening (or pretending to listen) intently and no one paid them much mind so he moved closer to Tobirama as inconspicuously as possible.

 

‘Hey, Tobirama.’ Madara whispered towards the Senju. ‘What?’ Tobirama gave him a sideway glance. ‘I have a riddle for you. What did the grape say when it got crushed?’ Madara rejoiced internally at Tobirama’s aggravated huff. ‘Seriously? You couldn’t pick a worse moment to start with this again, could you?’ The white-haired man shot him a glare. ‘Nothing, it just let out a little wine.’ Madara answered the question, ignoring the warning signals. Tobirama sighed long-sufferingly.

‘Here’s another one. What does a zombie vegetarian eat?’ Madara wouldn’t be stopped now. Vexing Tobirama was far too entertaining. Tobirama’s only response was a twitch of his eyebrow and tightening of his lips. ‘Graaaaaiiiinssss.’ Madara chuckled as the twitch of Tobirama’s brow turned wilder and he released a tiny whine. Byakuren paused at his speech for a moment but both of the hokage advisors maintained poker faces.

 

‘Stop messing around.’ Tobirama hissed threateningly when the Mizukage proceeded to continue. Madara could see he was cracked again. Just one more joke… ‘Oh come on, listen.’ Madara nudged him with his elbow. ‘Madara. Stop. It. Now. While I’m still only debating the merits of shoving an explosive tag down your throat.’ Tobirama was visibly restraining himself from lashing out and attempting to strangle him. This was precious.

‘How to spot a blind man on a nudist beach?’ The Uchiha posed the last riddle. ‘Don’t. Please don’t.’ Tobirama gritted his teeth, fists clenched so much the knuckles were white. ‘It’s not hard, really.’ Madara literally dropped the bomb. Tobirama let out a wheezy noise as his eyes threatened to bulge out of his skull, thus much he was trying not to explode.

‘I see you have something more interesting to discuss? Perhaps you could share with the rest of us as well, Senju-sama? Uchiha-sama?’ The Mizukage crossed his arms expectantly as the whole room was suddenly staring at them. ‘No. Not at all. That was absolutely of no importance at all. Do forgive us for the interruption, please continue.’ Tobirama managed to say with slightly higher voice pitch. Madara shrugged noncommittally.

 

Byakuren glared for a few more seconds before he returned to the topic again, dropping the subject. ‘Uchiha. You’re going to regret that.’ Tobirama snarled with thunderous expression. ‘Whatever you do, it was totally worth it. You should have seen your face. I wish I had a picture of it to frame.’ Madara chuckled quietly. ‘That’s it. I’m going to drown you the minute this meeting is over.’ Tobirama announced. ‘I’m sure it will be a breath-taking experience.’ Madara smirked wryly.

The resulting howl of rage Tobirama wasn’t able to contain that interrupted the meeting for full five minutes – during which Hashirama kept inquiring what the hell was the matter with them and didn’t get any straight answer as Tobirama kept muttering murder threats and curses and Madara couldn’t stop laughing like a lunatic – was probably the most significant accomplishment of Madara’s life so far.

 

₪₪₪

 

‘Hey, Senju. Cut the sulking already.’ Madara barged into Tobirama’s office. The other man only acknowledged his presence with a freezing glare. ‘Come on, how long are you going to be pissed? It was just a bit of fun.’ Madara made himself comfortable in the chair on the other side of the table and picked some weird small device to inspect.

 

The week of Tobirama not speaking with him for making him lose his composure in front of the Mizukage was tedious. Any time he attempted to speak with the Senju he was just blatantly ignored as if he wasn’t even there. Madara would be fine with Tobirama carrying out his homicidal threats but this form of punishment was much worse.

At least the negotiations went better than Madara expected and contrary to all his suspicions and warning signs no Kiri invasion to Konoha occurred. Then again, he was pretty sceptical they would accomplish anything in the first place so the two trade treaties they were able to sign with the Kirigakure were a huge success anyway. The relations between their two villages were strictly business-like but it was a first step.

 

‘First of all, it wasn’t fun at all. Your jokes are absolutely horrible and the timing you choose for telling them completely stupid. Second thing – you’re a jerk.’ Tobirama snapped, finally breaking the silence he kept for almost full week. ‘Ah, at last! I almost forgot how your lovely voice sounds like. I was beginning to miss it.’ Madara uttered sarcastically. And if he secretly meant it, it was neither here nor there.

‘And I’m wounded. My jokes are brilliant. Although nothing beats your reactions to them. Absolutely priceless.’ Madara laughed shortly. ‘I’d give you a nasty look but you already have one. And stop playing with that.’ Tobirama grumbled. ‘Ouch. Snarky. I missed that load of sassiness too.’ The Uchiha squared an ankle over his knee.

 

At that moment the weird stick he was fiddling with opened as he must have pushed something on it and black ink spilled all over his clothes. ‘Oh, for fucks sake, dammit!’ Madara exploded out of the chair, looking for anything to wipe the mess with. ‘Well, that’s unfortunate.’ Tobirama’s mouth curled into gleeful half-smirk. He basked in Madara’s indignant sputtering for a whole minute before he graciously offered a box of paper tissues.

‘Thank you very much, you’re entirely too nice.’ Madara muttered peevishly and proceeded to clean the mess as well as he could. Which in reality meant more smudging it than actually drying. ‘I know. You’re welcome.’ Tobirama’s smirk widened into grin. ‘Would you look at that? It only took making a fool of myself to melt the ice.’ Madara paused at his efforts to fully appreciate it. ‘It seems your ridiculousness works its miracles yet again.’ The Senju granted.

When mostly cleaned up – good thing he was wearing black clothes that particular day so the stains weren’t that obvious – Madara collapsed into the chair once more. ‘What’s this device of devilry anyway?’ He gestured towards the treacherous stick. ‘That’s a prototype of a writing tool. It holds the ink inside so you don’t have to wet your brush any other minute. I call it a fountain pen.’ The silver-haired man explained. ‘That’s a fitting name.’ Madara groused and gestured to his stained clothes. ‘I told you not to play with that.’ Tobirama shrugged.

 

‘Look. Back to the original topic. I’m sorry okay? I wasn’t trying to humiliate you in front of the Mizukage, I swear. I was just bored out of my wits and you happened to be the closest target…’ Madara rubbed his chin as he proceeded to apologize. ‘Apology accepted, I suppose. And you have an ink smudge on your chin.’ Tobirama snorted. Madara tried to wipe it off but apparently he was unsuccessful in this endeavour as Tobirama swatted his hand away, rolling his eyes.

‘You’re making it worse, idiot. Let me do it.’ The Senju ran his thumb several times gently over Madara’s jaw. The touch elicited familiar sparks of excitement running all over the Uchiha’s body. ‘That’s better.’ Tobirama retracted his hand and nodded in satisfaction, oblivious of the inner whine Madara was currently trying to suppress.

‘We’re all good again? Splendid. Now what about that dinner we were talking about? Are you coming over or not?’ Madara went straight to the point. ‘Come think about it, you owe me. An apology in a form of cooked goods might be satisfactory.’ Tobirama mused. ‘Can’t you just fucking say yes?’ Madara groaned in response. Why did the Senju have to keep talking so flowery? ‘I just did?’ The Senju frowned in confusion.

‘Ah. Alright. Anyway. How does tomorrow suit you?’ The Uchiha suggested before an argument could erupt. That would be silly considering they just made up. ‘I have training with kids later in the afternoon...’ Tobirama nibbled on his lower lip thoughtfully. Madara had to avert his eyes from the delightfully reddened skin.

‘You don’t have to if it’s inconvenient…’ Madara waved his hand casually, although a sting of disappointment was painfully present in depths of his chest. ‘I can reschedule it no problem.’ Tobirama hurried to assure. ‘In that case I shall be awaiting you at six. I’ll notify the patrols you are coming with friendly intentions to avoid any conflict if you want.’ The Uchiha proposed, much more cheerful now. ‘That would probably be wise.’ Tobirama rubbed the back of his neck.

‘Fine. I think I bothered you long enough, until tomorrow then.’ Madara stood up and made for the door. ‘Yeah, until tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.’ Tobirama’s wary smile almost caused Madara swoon. ‘Awesome! I mean… Good. Me too.’ He stammered out and quickly made himself scarce not to embarrass himself any further. Who would have guessed Tobirama being shy could throw him off so much?

 

₪₪₪ 

 

 

Madara was whirling around the kitchen adding last touches to the dessert when several sharp knocks resounded over the house. ‘Coming!’ Madara shouted into the hall and shoved the cheesecake into the box so the top wouldn’t chap until it was served. Everything seemed to be ready. He just hoped Tobirama would be impressed.

Coming up with an excuse to remove Izuna out of the house without telling him why he needed him to get the hell out turned out to be harder than expected. In the end he found an unsuspecting help in Hikaku who came to pick Izuna up and drag him to some youngsters’ drinking party in the village centre. It was Friday night after all.

 

When he opened the door at last Tobirama was standing there with his arms folded and his appearance made Madara’s jaw drop. He was lacking his usual blue armour and fluffy collar, instead he was dressed into dark red thigh-length yukata and slim-fitting grey pants. It was a perfect choice for a friendly dinner yet maintaining his formal bearing. And who would have guessed he would look so fantastic in red? Positively edible. What a shame he kept wearing mostly blue and black. Something should be done about that.

‘I couldn’t even count how many strange looks I received on my way here. Nice apron by the way.’ Tobirama scanned him with a measuring gaze from head to toe and snapped Madara out of his haze. ‘Oh damn, I forgot to take it off…’ The Uchiha cursed and tried to hide the blush as he briskly shed the terrible pink apron with cat pattern Izuna gave him for his birthday several years ago and he was ridiculously fond of.

‘I like it though. It’s cute.’ Tobirama offered. Madara’s fight with all of his blood moving rapidly into his head was lost. Senju Tobirama thought something cute. And that cute thing was an apron he was wearing a few seconds ago. The world has clearly gone mad.

 

‘So… Are you going to you let me in?’ Tobirama arched one of his thin silver brows. ‘Yeah, of course. In you go.’ Madara cursed inwardly and moved out of the way. ‘Why thank you. I was beginning to think you were going to leave me outside.’ Tobirama followed Madara to the living room.

‘Do you want to eat in there or you want to go out into the garden? There’s a koi pond and a little gazebo and it looks pretty good I think, so…’ Madara trailed off. Why did the idea of eating outside suddenly sound so stupidly romantic? ‘It’s a lovely warm evening, why not.’ Tobirama shrugged.

‘Alright. Let me show you the way.’ Madara turned his back to him, still willing the residues of the redness off his cheeks and strode towards the back door. ‘Wow. It looks really charming. Even Hashirama could envy you this garden.’ Tobirama looked around with unfeigned wonder.

Flower patches were in full bloom, their smell filling the air and although the sun was getting lower, it was still pleasantly warm. ‘Thank you. It’s mostly work of Uchiha Akeno. Coincidentally, he’s Kagami’s uncle. Very skilled man. He’s helping his sister Aya raising her three kids since her husband…’ Madara trailed off. It wasn’t a happy story. Uchiha Meiji was a great shinobi but warring era claimed lives of many. Including his precious brothers.

He never stopped missing them. Tajiro, wise, just and yet kind, was so much better suited for leading the clan. And what would become of Haruma and Takuma if his father, blinded by the stupid pride, hadn’t had sent them to battlefield too young and inexperienced? They were so pure. The twins were only eight years old when their party was ambushed and slaughtered by some Hyuuga. Madara was eternally grateful the alliance with the Senju allowed him provide better lives to his remaining brother and all of the surviving clan members.

 

‘Oh! The aviaries! You are keeping your falcons in those I assume?’ Tobirama, unaware of his inner reminiscing, pointed towards the big wooden constructions wrapped in wired fence and successfully dispersed any grim memories. ‘Yeah. I can introduce you to them after dinner, if you would be interested?’ Madara suggested. ‘Sure thing! I’d love that.’ Tobirama nodded vigorously with a small, pleased smile.

While normally they were different like day and night, at this moment he resembled Hashirama a lot. Only he was so much cuter when excited. Madara had to force himself tear his eyes from Tobirama’s face and hid the smile Tobirama’s zeal invoked. Even though some people in his life were forever lost, he gained other unexpected acquaintances and friendships to cherish.

If someone told him a few years ago he would ever befriend and even tried to woo Senju Tobirama, the invincible battlefield terror known for having no mercy and zero hesitation to kill, he would have a good laugh and then proceeded to gut the person for such an unbecoming suggestion. And yet things turned out entirely unexpected way when the silver-haired man one day broke the spell and spared Izuna’s life.

 

‘You can make yourself comfortable, I’ll bring the food, cutlery and everything we need.’ Madara directed said man towards the gazebo made out of ebony wood. ‘I can help you if you need a hand.’ Tobirama offered. What Madara needed right now was Tobirama’s hand tightly entwined with his own while they watched sunset slowly blending into starry night. The Uchiha bit his tongue to prevent his stupid mouth from saying that out loud.

‘Bah, you’re the guest. Please sit down. I’ll be along in a minute.’  Madara refused firmly and scurried away to take refuge in his house. Since when did he yearn for anything like that? Heck, he never was a sentimental type! If things progressed the way they did up until now, he’d soon rival even Hashirama, who was the king of mushiness. Izuna would laugh so hard he would roll around on the floor should he hear about that.

Madara just gathered everything needed into a basket and when confident enough he regained his common sense, ventured out to entertain his guest. What kind of host would he be to leave Tobirama wait for him? Who knows what conclusions the Senju would draw from his prolonged absence.  

 

The shio yakisoba with spring onion, cabbage, beansprouts, carrots and fine pork Madara prepared as the main course turned out to be a good choice. Judging by the appreciative hums Tobirama obviously found it tasty and he wasn’t shy to word his compliments. Madara waved him off as if it was nothing but his inner self was all giddy because of all the praise on his cooking skills.

The real winner was the cheesecake with blueberry mousse though. The effort of running about the forest with his sharingan on to find some fresh blueberries at wee hours of the morning so no one would see him behaving like a fool was completely worth the sheer delight radiating off the Senju once Madara offered him a piece.

Tobirama almost dived into the cake head-first, completely unaware of the tiny moans he kept releasing with every mouthful. Madara on the other hand was _extremely aware_ of those as his world was being shaken with every last one of them. It was like he was put under a spell, he just had to keep staring. Why did the Senju have to be so damn sexy while eating a stupid cake and be so blissfully oblivious of the effect it had on people around him?!

‘This is how heaven must taste like.’ Tobirama commented once he was done with his share. ‘Umm… What?’ Madara snapped out of his daydreaming and blinked dumbly several times. ‘So far I thought okāsan made the best cakes I’ve ever tasted but I might reconsider that statement now.’ Tobirama sighed contently and licked his lips. Madara experienced a minor stroke.

‘Oh. I… Don’t know what to say? I’m… Honoured?’ Madara stammered out when he stopped choking on thin air. ‘As you should be. Mother’s baking skills were unparalleled.’ Tobirama replied laconically and sipped on his tea. Madara didn’t know what to do with himself. What he needed now was some distraction.

‘So, you wanna meet the cauldron now?’ The Uchiha blurted out. ‘Sorry… Meet _what_?’ Tobirama’s brows furrowed. ‘The cauldron. That’s how a group of falcons is called.’ The Uchiha clarified. ‘Ah, really? I see! I didn’t know that. I was wondering why would you feel the need to introduce me to a piece of pottery.’ The other man nodded thoughtfully. Madara marvelled for a second there was anything he knew and Tobirama did not. ‘Let’s go then!’ He jumped up and marched towards the aviaries, trusting Tobirama would follow.

 

The birds were resting when they approached their cage but once Madara clicked his tongue several times in a noise pattern they were trained on, they flew closer to perch on the branch Madara fed them on. ‘They are magnificent! How come they are each a different colour?’ Tobirama next to him seemed in his suit. Studying things was just his nature and it showed.

‘Well, they are gyrfalcons. They can be white, grey or brown. I got one of each.’ Madara explained. ‘I see. What are their names?’ Tobirama inquired further. ‘The brown one is a male, Yūgure. He likes to be scratched on the neck. The biggest white one is a female, I named her Mirāju. She’s a moody lady. And the smallest grey one would be Arashi. He’s as fast as a lightning.’ Madara introduced his birds proudly.

‘I already fed them today but perhaps Arashi would be up for a little adventure?’ Madara suggested and opened the door to the cage. He put on the protective glove and outstretched his hand in front of the grey falcon. The bird hopped onto it happily and he carried it outside for Tobirama to look closer.

 

Madara held the bird patiently while the Senju rounded them several times, studying Arashi intently from every possible angle. The falcon just sat contently, cleaning its feathers. ‘Fascinating. Might I see him flying?’ Tobirama asked after a while. ‘Sure. You will need a glove for that.’ Madara pointed at the necessary equipment. Tobirama nodded and put the leather glove on.

‘Good. Now take a piece of meat out of the box so he doesn’t see it and go over there.’ Madara instructed the other man. Tobirama obeyed and jogged several yards away from him. ‘A little further.’ The Uchiha prompted. ‘Now what?’ Tobirama turned to him once there was a sufficient distance between them.  ‘Now just outstretch your hand like me and don’t freak out.’ Madara shouted and gave Arashi the signal to fly.

The falcon spread its wings, lifted off, made two laps around the garden and landed gracefully on Tobirama’s hand. ‘Whoa! There you are, handsome boy!’ Tobirama exclaimed joyfully. ‘He’s heavier than I expected!’ He shouted at Madara, who was walking towards him.

 

‘Good job! Give him the meat as a reward.’ Madara advised. The white-haired man did as he was told and held the meat out carefully. ‘He won’t bite your finger off, don’t worry.’ Madara snorted at his wariness. Arashi took the offered food and ate it with several gulps. ‘Look, he ate it! That’s a good boy!’ Tobirama seemed positively ecstatic. He was behaving like a small child would, thus delighted he was to learn something new. Madara found it absolutely endearing.

‘Of course he did. He’s well behaved.’ Madara chuckled. ‘You can touch him if you want. Just be careful not to make any sudden noises or moves that would startle him.’ He recommended to the suiton user. Tobirama brightened even more, if it was possible. The resemblance between Hashirama and him was now strikingly obvious. How could he not see it before?

‘He’s so pretty and soft. It’s breathtaking.’ Tobirama touched the delicate feathers with his fingertips. ‘Yeah, it is.’ Madara muttered, eyes trained on the tiny soft smile playing on Tobirama’s lips. He would be completely content just to watch the man petting his falcon for hours. He swiftly averted his eyes when Tobirama looked up.

 

‘Come here boy, time to go back to your home.’ Madara patted his hand to cover up for his slip and since he noticed Tobirama’s hand started to droop a bit. ‘I know he’s heavy. You shouldn’t strain yourself.’ He clarified once the falcon hopped onto his hand and Tobirama pouted a bit. ‘Yeah. Still, it was worth it.’ The Senju bared his teeth in a wider smile and it was Madara’s knees going weak.

‘I’m sure he’d like you visiting again. He’s not normally so comfortable with strangers.’ He shared when the bird was safely back in the aviary. ‘I’d like that very much myself. If you wouldn’t mind of course.’ Tobirama hurried to affirm. ‘Nah, on contrary. I find your presence surprisingly pleasant.’ Madara admitted quietly. ‘So do I.’ Tobirama looked away blushing. Gods give him strength, Madara was mere seconds from kissing the hell out of the Senju.

 

 

‘So. Are you in a hurry to go back home? Or you’re up for a game of shogi or three?’ Madara asked carefully. ‘Actually a game or three does sound tempting. If I might acquire one more piece of that cake?’ Tobirama grinned bashfully. ‘You can have as many as you want. Izuna doesn’t deserve a piece anyway.’ Madara laughed shortly, elated that he wasn’t turned down. If it only took a slice of a blueberry cake to keep Tobirama around for a bit longer, he was willing to bake a dozen.

‘I’d defend the honour of my friend but that would mean less cake for me. Let us begin then, I’ll kick your ass again!’ Tobirama waggled his brows challengingly. Once again Madara paused to wonder about the complete change the Senju undertook since they got closer and Tobirama felt around him comfortable enough to act naturally. It was fascinating. It was stunning. And he never felt thus happy and content around anyone before.

‘As if. I won’t make the same stupid mistakes as the last time. I already know your tricks, snowflake!’ Madara stuck his tongue out playfully as he was preparing the board. ‘Oh, really? You don’t know even a tiniest fraction of my tricks, porcupine.’ Tobirama responded in a similar manner.

‘Shall we? I’ll give you the courtesy of the first move.’ The Senju smirked cockily. ‘You don’t know what you got yourself into.’ Madara grinned wolfishly. He was determined to win this. Both the game and his opponent’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Falcons names:  
> Mirāju = mirage  
> Yūgure = dusk  
> Arashi = storm
> 
> So, I hope this was worth the month long waiting for? Lemme know! 
> 
> (I have a good half of the next chapter already written so hopefully it shouldn't take me so long to update again. But you know me. As I keep stressing out, my attention span sucks spectacularly.)
> 
> Thanks for reading and especially for your lovely reviews and kudos you encourage me with! It means so much to me! <3 <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God dammit, this was tough to write! I wasn't able to edit this chapter heavily, I'm just glad to have it finished.
> 
> DUN DUN DUN
> 
> I mean, enjoy.... *devil grin*

Tobirama’s Friday visit was talk of the several next days in the compound. No one dared to ask directly but Madara knew from the way the quiet whispering abruptly stopped and crowds dispersed once he appeared somewhere and it annoyed him to no end.

Well, almost no one dared. That Izuna was unwise enough to inquire about the details the very next day when he slept out of his hangover was to be expected.  His nosy brother just swiftly reconsidered his prying into Madara’s privacy under the threat of making improvised drum set out of all the pans and pots in the household solely for Izuna to enjoy with his throbbing head. But to Madara’s surprise, he wasn’t the only one.

 

Madara was sitting on his back porch, enjoying morning tea and scrambled eggs he made himself for breakfast, when a high-pitched voice startled him so much the eggs went down the wrong pipe. ‘Madara-sama! Uncle said Tobirama-sensei was visiting you? Does it mean he’s allowed into the compound now?’ Kagami trotted to the view, his big dark eyes on top of his head.

When he was done choking, Madara frowned in confusion. ‘He was… never… banned from it?’ He coughed out. ‘And you should announce yourself first before you make me spill my tea all over my clothes and choke on my breakfast.’ Madara grumbled, back into his normal voice pitch.

 

‘Sorry, Madara-sama! So sensei can come visit me if I invite him?’ Kagami apologized half-heartedly and proceeded to inquire. What on earth was the deal with the kid? ‘You want to invite him to your house? Whatever for?’ Madara tilted his head curiously.

‘My cat Momo had babies a few days ago! I wanted to show him.’ Kagami explained as if Madara was dense. How was he supposed to know of this was beyond him. And why wasn’t he invited? He loved cats! No, scratch that. Kagami would find him even less intimidating if he knew. But still, he hadn’t get to pet any kittens for ages since Shishi and Izumi were all grown up for years…

 

Also who the brat thought he was? Did he have a crush on Tobirama or something? If the Senju was to go to the Uchiha compound again, it’s was going to be _Madara’s house_ to host him, thank you very much. ‘Well, you can ask him, I guess? Although I’m afraid Tobirama-san doesn’t have a lot of spare time to just observe some kittens.’ Madara crossed his arms. Check-mate.

‘You’re probably right… Maybe you could ask him instead of me? Say it’s some terribly important business.’ Kagami suggested, grinning mischievously. ‘You want me to lie to your sensei?’ Madara was mildly amused and scandalized at the same time. The gall of the little demon.

‘Well, not _lie?_ Just… Bluff a little? Use some kind of euphemism? You surely have a lot of diplomatic skills.’ Kagami rolled his eyes. That was where the brat was very much wrong. Madara’s diplomatic skills were very pitiful. But he wasn’t about to admit that to a child, right?

 

‘Mmm. What will I gain from this kind of deal though?’ Madara entwined his fingers expectantly. If he was to do some favours to Kagami, he wanted some retribution. ‘Another date with Tobirama-sensei of course!’ Kagami squeaked excitedly and Madara turned into a boiling kettle once more, all red and huffing.

‘What do you mean, _another?_ I didn’t have any with the twice-damned Senju! How dare you suggest something like… This, this is most unbecoming…!’ Madara kept sputtering indignantly. ‘I don’t know how involved you are. That’s what mum said to uncle when he wondered what kind of visit it could have been.’ Kagami shrugged noncommittally. As if ten years old were supposed to be so casual about this stuff.

‘That’s… That’s ridiculous and none of your business. Yours or anyone else’s, as a matter of fact. You should know better than spread unfounded rumours, I’m really disappointed in you, Kagami.’ Madara came to offensive mode. ‘But Izuna-sama said…’ Kagami tried to oppose but was swiftly cut off.

 

‘Izuna is the last person you should believe in this matter. He’s prone to making a mountain out of a molehill when it suits him. Now, off you go. I need to finish my breakfast and go to work.’ Madara took the kid by his shoulders, turned him around and nudged him (more or less gently) towards the gate.

‘But will you ask him? Pretty please! I can prank someone you don’t like for you. Elder Noriko for example! She will never know.’ Kagami pleaded. Was puppy eyes no jutsu an ability all children possessed? ‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Now be gone, tiny demon and stop delaying me any further.’ Madara pointed in the direction Kagami was sent.

‘Alright, alright. I’m going. But you should totally ask him. I heard from Izuna-sama Tobirama-sensei adores cats!’ Kagami winked conspicuously and finally waltzed out of the garden. Madara kept staring at nothing in particular for a good minute before he regained his senses. Was the brat trying to get them together? Or was it Izuna’s idea? Madara decided he’d rather not known.

 

 

 

Madara forgot about the whole scene for a few days and before he had the opportunity to ask Tobirama whether he wanted to go see kittens with him (he tried to find a less infantile sounding phrasing for the suggestion but wasn’t really successful in that particular endeavour...) Hashirama requested his presence in his office.

 

When Madara arrived into the room, Tobirama was already there. It had to be some important business then if it required presence of both of them. Not that he was complaining. ‘Please, sit down. We are waiting for Mito to join us.’ Hashirama beckoned them to the little sofa he kept by the wall to secretly nap on after lunch. Well, it wasn’t such a secret but Tobirama tolerated it most of the days. Hashirama was more productive when he wasn’t yawning every other second.

 

He expected Tobirama to sit at the very end of the sofa so there was as much space between them as possible but the white-haired man sat right in the middle, leaving Madara no other choice than sit so close their thighs were pressed together.

The increasingly uncomfortable silence reigned in the room, disturbed only by occasional rustle of paper as Hashirama flipped through his paperwork. Madara kept fiddling with a loose thread on his sleeve, Tobirama had his hands folded firmly and was looking out of the window. Hashirama glanced up from time to time and right after that he always swiftly hid behind his papers. Kami knew what he was on about.

Just as the Uchiha was about to interrupt the silence and blurt out something stupid, the door to the office opened and revealed their salvation in the form of Uzumaki Mito. Madara was never more grateful to see the red-haired harpy. Not that he would ever say that out loud even under torture.

 

Mito scanned the room with her keen hazel eyes and smirked shrewdly. ‘Well good morning gentlemen, aren’t you two looking cosy?’ She made her way towards Hashirama to plant a kiss onto his lips and stain them faint raspberry red with her lipstick. Madara screeched some unflattering things about her in his own mind but Tobirama didn’t even twitch so he was playing it cool. He wouldn’t be provoked under any circumstances.

‘Uzumaki. Took you long enough to join us.’ Madara inclined his head with a false smile. ‘Uchiha, contrary to your beliefs, I have business to tend to other than having tea with council elders.’ Mito replied with a dismissing sweep of her hand. Madara internally screeched some more profanities.

‘Could we just get to the point? I’m sure you can exchange quips later on.’ Tobirama finally spoke up. ‘I was just about to suggest the same, thank you. My dear?’ Hashirama pleaded Mito with his eyes to start explaining. Mito looked mildly disappointed to be denied the opportunity to hassle Madara but eventually nodded.

 

‘Alright. So the thing is. There is one particular scroll belonging to my father and our clan. It speaks about sealing big amounts of chakra like the tailed beasts. You know we used the hakke no fuuin seal to lock the Kyuubi inside me, don’t you?’ Mito wandered towards the little table to pour herself some tea.

‘We’re aware of that, yes. What of it?’ Tobirama answered curtly for both of them. While Madara was vaguely aware Mito sealed a nine-tailed demon fox inside herself, fuuinjutsu and its intricacies wasn’t anything particularly interesting to him so he never demanded to know the details.

‘Long story short, the scroll had been stolen and we need to retrieve it at any cost.’ Mito, thank kami, got straight to the point. ‘Who had the gall to invade Uzushio and steal anything in there and how did they manage it?’ Madara was shocked. Being basically fuuinjutsu inventors, the Uzumaki had their protective wards and barriers everywhere, making the village almost impenetrable and the most secure place in the Land of Whirlpools.

‘First information pointed towards Kumogakure but our spies found out raikage-sama does not have anything to do with the theft. Apparently it was stolen by a radical group led by brothers Kinkaku and Ginkaku who repeatedly rallied citizens and ninjas of the Hidden Cloud against their current leader. They seem to be pretty resourceful.’ Mito sipped on her drink.

‘Based on this information my father contacted the first raikage-sama A and the news agitated the Kumo as well. We have their full approve and support on retrieving the scroll and dealing with the traitors. Preferably by capturing them but Kumo won’t hold it against us if we just eliminate the targets.’ Mito finished her cup and her briefing on the issue.

 

‘Kinkaku and Ginkaku left their village after their last riots a few weeks ago but the Kumo spies managed to locate their hiding. Raikage-sama sent all the details and known stats about the brothers and who might be in their party. The Gold and Silver brothers, that’s the nicknames they come by, previously attempted and failed to capture a tailed beast, namely the Kyuubi we now possess. It is likely they would use the power to go through with a coup d’état and once they overtook the village they would threaten other nations. Obviously we can’t allow that.’ Hashirama took over, for a change completely serious.

‘And I figure we are the lucky ones appointed to prevent this, am I right?’ Madara groused. ‘Well, we do not want to make an affair out of the whole situation. It is in the best interest of Uzushio, Kumo and Konoha alike to keep it under wraps. The fewer people know the better. You and Tobirama are our strongest shinobi and best suited for this mission based on your skills, with your sharingan and katon mastery and Tobirama’s fuuinjutsu and sensory skills I’m sure you have all the capabilities to success. Especially since you apparently get along much better lately.’ Hashirama grinned innocently.

‘That’s pretty serious. When do you expect us to leave?’ Tobirama asked flatly, ignoring Hashirama’s jab. ‘Preferably today at dawn. Take the information kindly provided for us by Kumo. I wouldn’t entrust anyone else with this but you.’ Hashirama handed Mito the scrolls who gave them to Tobirama in return.

‘There’s a copy for each of you. Now if you excuse me, I need to see to some other business. Good luck, I’m counting on you.’ Mito smiled sincerely at both of them. ‘We’ll see it done.’ Tobirama reassured and Madara grunted in agreement. ‘Thank you. Stay safe.’ Mito took his hand and squeezed it affectionately, than, to his shock, did the same with Madara’s hand. Before the Uchiha recovered, Mito exchanged a few quiet words with Hashirama, kissed him goodbye and left the room again.

 

‘There’s one more information I’d like to share with you. I didn’t want to say it in front of Mito, but we can’t rule out the possibility Kinkaku and Ginkaku won’t attempt to capture the Kyuubi’s jinchuuriki and steal the bijuu once more as they showed particular interest in the fox demon. You know that would mean…’ Hashirama trailed off, biting his lip with worried expression.

‘Hashirama, even though I would enjoy watching your lovely wife beating the crap out of them, they won’t get anywhere near Mito, you have my word.’ Madara stood up and hurried to reassure him. While he and Mito didn’t see eye to eye most of the time he would hate if the Uzumaki harpy came to any harm and not just because of his best friend.

‘Don’t worry anija, let us deal with the matter. Keep an eye on Mito just to be sure though.’ Tobirama joined him and patted Hashirama’s shoulder. ‘You guys are so great, thank you! Let me hug you!’ Hashirama sobbed dramatically and before they could back away jumped up and engulfed them both at once in one of his infamous bear hugs.

‘Anija, cut it off…’ Tobirama grumbled but there wasn’t any real heat in his voice tone. Madara just groaned grumpily but didn’t try to squirm out of the embrace. Partially because he was currently pressed against Tobirama and mostly because he felt Hashirama needed it right now.

 

‘Okay, now everything is settled I shall let you go prepare yourself. I’ll appoint Touka to guard Mito until you return. You have my utmost faith. Be safe.’ Hashirama squeezed them and actually planted a sloppy kiss first on Tobirama’s cheek and then Madara’s forehead.

He was wise enough to let go then and chuckled at Tobirama’s disgruntled muttering and Madara’s disgusted noises as they were wiping on their faces. ‘We shall keep you informed via summons. Bye, anija.’ Tobirama said when he was done and like that he made for the door. ‘Try not to wind yourself up too much if you don’t hear from us every ten minutes. We’ll be alright.’ Madara patted Hashirama’s arm gingerly and followed the younger Senju out of the office.

 

‘Here’s your scroll. I suggest you armed yourself as usually, I’ll take care of the explosive tags and special equipment. We shall meet by the northern gate at dawn.’ Tobirama handed him the information on their mission. ‘Bossy. Fine, see you later.’ Madara uttered false-irritably. Tobirama reached out as if to squeeze Madara’s biceps but in the end only brushed his fingertips over the Uchiha’s arm.

‘Until later.’ The white-haired man bit his lip and used hiraishin to vanish. A good thing too as Madara’s face was being overtaken by the most interesting shade of red. ‘Stupid cute Senju.’ Madara muttered under his breath, shaking his head, and headed home too. He had to prepare for a tough mission after all.

 

 

₪₪₪

 

Their assigned mission brought them into the Land of Lightning. As promised by the raikage, they didn’t run into any trouble on borders nor deeper into the territory even though they stumbled upon patrols twice. They decided to travel as fast as possible, taking only short breaks for quick naps and regaining stamina.

There was no telling how long Kinkaku forces would remain at their hiding and letting them slip between their fingers would mean a possible disaster. As they had to make haste and be mindful of their surroundings, there was little space for idle chatting or pretty much anything else. Tobirama seemed to be in his serious mode and from Madara’s part he was focused on keeping up with him. Tobirama was known to be the fastest living shinobi for a reason after all.

 

From the information Madara with Tobirama gathered Kinkaku and Ginkaku were currently on some business out of the hiding but they were leaving it only for a couple of days. The hiding itself was very strategically placed and would be hard to infiltrate but with brothers outside on an endeavour, there was a possibility of setting up a trap somewhere along the way into their lair.

After some studying of maps during their breaks Madara with Tobirama picked the most suitable spot where to ambush their targets. It was a clearing Kinkaku forces had to cross on their way to the hiding, shielded from one side by a lake and from the other by a narrow rocky slope.

When he was done checking the perimeter Tobirama placed his custom kunai with seals around the strategic places of the area. He also equipped Madara with a literal ton of explosive tags and entrusted him with setting some traps the way he deemed effective.

Being done with that, Tobirama raised a barrier around the area that would conceal their chakra from approaching enemy and also alert them their targets passed into the zone of death. Finally having everything set, both of the men hid in a tree that allowed them the best outlook on the scenery and perched on a branch awaited their foes.

 

‘Mmm, one more final touch. Kirigakure no jutsu!’ Tobirama made a few signs with his left hand while holding his half-eaten onigiri in his right as they allowed themselves a brief pause for refreshments. As Madara munched on last bits of his own rice ball, the space around them gradually filled with thick white fog impenetrable even for his activated sharingan.

‘What the hell, Senju? It’s _white_ everywhere!’ Madara cursed once he swallowed the mouthful. ‘Your exceptional observing abilities never fail to amaze me.’ Tobirama snorted dryly, making Madara’s nose twitch in irritation. ‘Sod off. I know you are absent-minded professor type when you got another of your questionable research ideas into your bleached head, but I said it clearly the other day that the sharingan is in disadvantage against this jutsu. I can’t see a shit.’ Madara spat, separating every word to emphasize his agitation. Did Tobirama really forget? It wasn’t just his ego that felt wounded by the idea.

‘I know. It’s just really nice to hear the invincible Uchiha Madara admit he has a weakness too.’ Tobirama shrugged heedlessly. ‘I’m just a person, not a god. Everyone has their flaws.’ Madara refused to humour the Senju by throwing a fit. Besides, they were in hiding. He could get back at him later when they didn’t risk exposing themselves to their enemies.

‘That’s probably the humblest thing I’ve ever heard you say…’ Tobirama side-eyed him curiously, as if searching for something in Madara’s expression. ‘Can’t believe I’m saying it but I trust you enough not to tell every living soul. The less people know about the sharingan weakness the better.’ Madara pierced Tobirama’s eyes with a hard stare. The Senju held the stare without a flinch and nodded. ‘It wouldn’t even cross my mind.’ He finally looked away.

 

‘If it makes you more comfortable, I can mingle the fog with your chakra as well. Thus you will be able to navigate in it without problems. Although I will lift it should it cause you any trouble with fighting the enemy regardless.’ Tobirama spoke up again in a placating manner.

‘Maybe it’s not that bad idea to add some of my chakra into it. I could conjure up some genjutsu as well to be casted once our targets venture inside.’ Madara mused. ‘How do you do it?’ The Uchiha asked. ‘Just repeat signs after me.’ Tobirama showed him and following his example Madara felt chakra seeping out of his hands into their surroundings.

Once properly mingled, Madara’s senses cleared and what was previously dulling his senses was just a bit of fog. He was suddenly aware of every bird and squirrel around them. Was that how Tobirama felt like all the time? ‘Interesting. Now for the genjutsu.’ The dark-haired man flew through some elaborate signs combinations of his own. Tobirama watched his hands with moderate interest while he was finishing his food.

 

Several minutes passed in silence, Tobirama staring inquisitively into the mist and Madara blinking owlishly against all the white. ‘This fog is really thick as curled milk.’ Madara uttered the first stupid observation that came to his mind when he found the silence more bothersome than Tobirama’s snarky remarks and winced. What was that about Madara stating the obvious all the time?

To his mellow surprise, the Senju next to him chuckled. ‘I never took you for a poet.’ Tobirama arched a brow at him, amused smirk curling the left corner of his mouth upwards. Devilishly handsome. In means to banish any inappropriate thoughts Madara scoffed. ‘Oh but I am one. Wanna hear a limerick?’ Madara fiddled absentmindedly with a shuriken.

‘Please.’ The silver-haired man beckoned him to go on. ‘Tobirama – what a prick.’ Madara finished with a sneer. To his even bigger surprise, Tobirama barked a short laugh. It was deep but ringing, a very pleasant sound that stirred a funny fluttering feeling in Madara’s guts. ‘Not bad.’ The Senju elbowed him, sending the unsuspecting Uchiha off-balance in his crouched position.

 

Madara yelped in exceptionally undignified manner and his hand flew out on its own to catch the nearest thing to prevent him from falling off the branch they were perched on. As it was, the nearest thing happened to be Tobirama’s hand he outstretched when he realized what his playful nudge caused.

‘Did my elbow throw you off so much?’ Tobirama wondered when he dragged Madara up again, strangely not trying to make Madara let go off him yet. The touch of Tobirama’s hand, unexpectedly warm even through the fabric of Madara’s glove, sent the Uchiha’s rational thoughts whirling.

‘Your personality is throwing me off, Senju! You act like a complete dickhead most of the time, insult me every given opportunity. You are detached and coldly analytical. You wouldn’t laugh or smile around me for the love of gods _for years_ and… and… argh!’ Madara shouted while waving his free hand wildly and crushing Tobirama’s fingers with the other one.

 

‘Madara. Madara, listen to me!’ Tobirama slapped his other hand against Madara’s mouth to more or less successfully shut him up by force. ‘First of all – however unnatural it may be for you not to yell on top of your lungs, tune a few decibels down, you’ll drag the attention of every living creature within two miles perimeter to us. Second - what are you prattling about?’ Tobirama blinked, visibly puzzled, and retreated both of his hands to Madara’s mild disappointment. Kami damn the Senju, he looked so endearing with his head tilted and eyes slightly widened.

‘Nothing, forget I said anything.’ Madara folded his arms and looked away with a scowl. He felt Tobirama’s eyes boring into his temple before the other finally averted his sight to stare into the fog again. When Madara dared to sneak a peek at him to make sure he really dropped the subject – which was highly suspicious – Tobirama was frowning and nibbling on his lower lip the way he did when he was trying to figure something out (and how did Madara know that tiny detail again?).

 

Madara sighed deeply. They were behaving like children. He ran a hand across his face and willed himself to speak frankly. ‘Look, your devil protégé came to the compound the other day bouncing on his feet and babbling how handsome you are when you smile. Izuna teased about it even more and… I was… sort of curious? I wanted to find out whether the rumours were true.’ The Uchiha offered cautiously.

‘So that lunch you invited me to have with you. All those times you were stuck in my presence and threw your horrendous jokes at me. You put so much effort into making me laugh just because you were _curious_?’ Tobirama’s expression was unreadable. Madara grunted affirmatively, stubbornly avoiding meeting Tobirama’s eyes. Or risk a glance higher than at his sandals.

‘You’re an idiot.’ Tobirama started laughing, myriads of genuine joyful chuckles shaking his shoulders. The sight of him and ridiculousness of the way he summarized Madara’s ingenious plans easily made the Uchiha join him. His sharingan started swirling as he took in the image of the chuckling man, the dojutsu imprinting the moment into his brain for eternity. Those dimples would be his undoing. Good thing his sharingan was already activated before, he wouldn’t have to explain himself.

 

‘Turns out Izuna was right, you do have a pretty smile after all so I guess I just had to see it again and again.’ Madara murmured, immediately wincing when he realized he said it out loud. ‘Beg your pardon? Did I heard right? Was that a compliment?’ Tobirama raised his thin brows, still grinning slyly. ‘Kami’s sake, could you stop being so smug all the time? Does it matter if it was a compliment?’ Madara bit out with half-heartedly annoyed eye-roll.

‘It matters a lot. I’d be tempted to kiss you if it was. Kami know I'd wait for eternity for you to finally find the courage.’ Tobirama’s grin receded into a mischievous smirk. The undignified noise Madara released instead of replying something witty most certainly wasn’t a choked squeak, thank you very much. He opened his mouth several times trying to come up with something clever but coherent words just left his brain altogether. Tobirama seemed greatly amused by his sputtering before his expression morphed into a scowl again.

‘Enemy just crossed the perimeter. A group of six people, two of them have significantly big chakra reserves. Our targets without a doubt. Ready yourself.’ The Senju whispered curtly, changed back to his usual self in matter of a second. Madara pushed the tangled mess of thoughts their previous conversation caused to the back of his mind and instead focused on the mission they weren’t allowed to fail.

 

 

Both of the Konoha ninja jumped off their branch and sped up towards the middle of the clearing filled with fog. Madara’s genjutsu worked well enough on four of their targets and he was able to hold them in his dream world trap but two of them, presumably Kinkaku and Ginkaku, broke out of it fairly quickly.

‘Oi, Kinkaku, seems someone wants to play with us.’ One voice shouted into the mist. ‘Indeed. Why don’t you come out and fight us head on instead of cowering like rats?’ Another one, most likely Kinkaku, yelled across the clearing. Meanwhile Tobirama made a quick process with the four ninja still caught in Madara’s genjutsu, moving around the space as a blur of death thanks to his hiraishin.

‘I think they killed our men, Kinkaku.’ The first voice commented in uninterested manner. ‘These idiots were good-for-nothing but still, that was quick. I can only think of a few people that fast and since all of them but one are from Kumo who are too frightened to mess with us, my guess would be we’ll soon have a pleasure of killing Senju Tobirama.’ Kinkaku said haughtily.

‘Oh, what a legend. Soon enough to be ended. Let us take a look whether he’s as pretty as rumours say. Fuuton: Taifuuikka!’ Ginkaku sneered and released a fuuton jutsu that successfully dispelled Tobirama’s Kirigakure no jutsu. Meanwhile Tobirama returned back to Madara and once the mist vanished, it revealed the two of them standing in the middle of the clearing side by side, arms folded.

 

‘Well, well, well! Surprise, surprise! Look who it is, Ginkaku!’ The golden-haired bulky man with square markings on his nose grinned. ‘Wild bush of black hair, gunbai and red eyes screaming murder. Pleased to meet you, Uchiha Madara.’  The smaller, silver-haired version of the first one made a mock bow. Disregarding the obvious jab, Madara felt oddly proud to be so renowned even across the nations.

‘They make a pretty couple, eh, Ginkaku? Mmm, what a pity we have to murder them. I’d fuck the soul out of that albino on other occasion. Maybe we should capture him first.’ Kinkaku elbowed his brother. ‘You’d fuck anything after all those weeks of hiding. Let’s just kill them and be done with that.’ Ginkaku retorted with an eye-roll.

So far Madara was able to remain calm but all those talks about Tobirama riled him up and he couldn’t contain the threatening growl at the suggestion of the two defiling the white-haired Senju. ‘Oh look, we offended the Uchiha. Maybe _they_ are fucking.’ Kinkaku guffawed loudly and his twin joined him. Madara had just enough but Tobirama’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from lashing out.

 

‘Ignore it, they just want to distract you. That fan one of them is holding, it’s no ordinary weapon. I don’t know where they acquired it but it has to be bashōsen, one of treasured tools of the Sage of Six paths.’ Tobirama muttered. ‘Eh? What does it do?’ Madara inquired. He never heard of those.

‘I read about it in a scroll in Uzushio library. Apparently it should be able to conjure all of the elemental chakra natures.’ Tobirama explained. ‘I see. Well, that’s a weapon worth of getting from them.’ Madara grinned. ‘It consumes large amounts of chakra from the wielder. I don’t think it’s wise to try and use it against them. We’ll just disarm them and seal it.’ Tobirama suggested instead.

‘Oi, you two! Enough of your lovey-dovey chatting, let’s get down to the fight!’ Kinkaku interrupted any further conversation and drew out a large sword while Ginkaku readied the bashōsen. ‘We should go for the smaller one first.’ Madara, whipping the gunbai off his back whispered towards Tobirama who grunted affirmatively, Raijin no ken already prepared for a clash.

‘Oh, you packed your shiny blade?’ Madara never really saw Tobirama using the sword and he had to marvel about the pure electricity the Senju gripped in his hand. If the rumours were true with proper use the wielder of the sword was invincible. The Uchiha had no doubts Tobirama perfected his combat skills with the blade.

‘Put that gunbai of yours into good use, Uchiha! Don’t put me into shame.’ Tobirama smirked encouragingly, the light of ration reflecting in his face making him look like a real thunder god. ‘Likewise, Senju. Don’t make me save your sorry ass.’ Madara grinned back, thrill of battle heating his blood up.

 

With a war yell the two brothers barged forward, Ginkaku engaging Madara while Kinkaku went after Tobirama. Madara didn’t have much time to check how Tobirama was faring as he kept dodging cutting blades of Kazekiri no jutsu Ginkaku kept sending his way with the bashōsen but the whooshing noise of the raiton sword was almost deafening.

His sturdy and trusted gunbai was able to withstand all of the blows he couldn’t dodge and he could see Ginkaku started getting angry and also more and more tired. Tobirama was right that the fan took a lot of chakra to operate. Madara used it as an opportunity to spit out housenka no jutsu and caught his opponent by surprise.

‘You little…!’ Ginkaku lost his patience and released a Suishōha water shockwave to counter the attack and try and drag Madara under. The silver brother realized he shouldn’t have done that once the water turned into Suiryuudan and instead of Madara aimed for himself, the water dragon swallowing him whole.

‘Many thanks!’ Madara shouted over his shoulder at Tobirama. ‘No problem. Switch!’ Tobirama shouted and flickered away from Kinkaku’s reach, leaving the golden brother for Madara now.  The Uchiha made several saltos to have Kinkaku between himself and Tobirama with Ginkaku to see what the Senju was about to do.

 

Kinkaku attacked with his huge sword and Madara had to leave it to him, he had quite admirable strength. Still his gunbai was unparalled and Madara was able to block the blow with ease. Hypnotizing Kinkaku with his sharingan, he sent his opponent stumbling back, spitting out Goukakyuu no jutsu Sen’en that combined with the gust of wind created by gunbai burned his target just as he planned. Kinkaku howled in pain and rage alike and dropped the sword from his severely burned hand, collapsing onto one knee.

At the same moment Tobirama, using the water Ginkaku previously conjured with bashōsen, created a large amount of Mizu shuriken, showering the silver brother with rapid succession. Having him distracted while he had to dodge the attack, Tobirama created a shadow clone to remain at his place and used hiraishin to flicker away without Ginkaku even noticing.

That was his doom as Tobirama suddenly appeared a few paces behind his target and combining the electricity emitted by Raijin no ken with the large pool of water surrounding them, electrocuted Ginkaku who wasn’t paying attention where he was standing.

 

‘Kinkaku!’ The pitiful wail for help was the only thing Ginkaku was able to produce before Tobirama closed the distance between them to finish him off. ‘Ginkaku, no!’ Kinkaku whipped around just in time to witness how Tobirama ran his blade through the silver-haired twin’s chest. The smaller brother made some gurgling noises as his lungs filled with blood he choked on and a few moments later Tobirama pulled the sword out of the motionless corpse.

‘Gin… Ginkaku! Say something!’ Kinkaku howled desperately but in vain. ‘Your brother is dead. Surrender and hand over the scroll and you shall die in more dignified manner.’ Tobirama swung the blade to get rid of the blood drops staining it, showering the golden twin with it in the process.

‘You… Bastards! You killed Ginkaku, now you shall learn what real pain is!’ Kinkaku apparently had no intentions to surrender as he clambered to his legs, bellowing viciously. Madara was about to scorch him with one more giant fireball blow when something suddenly changed.

 

It took his sharingan just a second to recognize the chakra seeping from Kinkaku’s body. ‘That’s… But how is that even possible…?’ Tobirama, similarly shocked, pretty much summed up his thoughts. There was no mistake, Kinkaku was surrounded in orange cloak of Kyuubi’s chakra.

His appearance changed too, several tails appeared and instead of human form a mini version of the demon was sitting in between them, roaring in murder frenzy. ‘Retreat, quick!’ Tobirama thundered and flickered away. Madara didn’t question that order and using kawarimi no jutsu headed for their designed hiding spot to regroup and forge a new strategy.

 

‘What in seven hells is that?!’ Madara demanded once they were crouching behind a huge boulder several dozen yards away from raging Kinkaku. ‘I do not know how they obtained Nine-tailes’ chakra but it’s neither trick nor genjutsu. I guess they managed to obtain at least part of its power during their encounter with the Kyuubi.’ Tobirama shared his speculations.

‘Whatever. The question is, how are we going to deal with that?’ Madara urged. ‘Well… We have this.’ Tobirama revealed the bashōsen he took from Ginkaku. ‘But you said it yourself, it requires insane amount of chakra to wield. Judging by your state, you are somewhere in the middle of your chakra reserves wasted, just like me.’ Madara pointed out the obvious.

‘I can still use sage mode.’ Tobirama shrugged. ‘But… Can you handle that huge amount of chakra with your sensor nature enhanced by sage mode?’ Madara immediately voiced his concerns. ‘Provided you don’t lash out and hurt me with your chakra flaring too brightly I should be able to withstand that.’ The Senju frowned in determination.

‘Seeing I have no other option than let you do as you please…’ Madara bit his lower lip. He didn’t like this plan but it was the best one they could come up under current conditions. ‘I’ll still need your help. Take this. When Kinkaku is restrained, you have to put the seal onto him. It sucks chakra out of the targets. It should work on Kyuubi chakra well enough.’  Tobirama drew a small tag out of his pouch.

Madara closed his fist firmly around the tag Tobirama handed to him and the other man squeezed the fist in his own sincerely. ‘Stay back and wait for the signal.’ The Senju stressed out with urge in his voice. The Uchiha confirmed his understanding with a nod and watched how Tobirama closed his eyes and lifted two fingers in front of his face.

‘Kai!’ Tobirama whispered and it apparently released some kind of restraining seal he had somewhere on his body as the red markings on his face thickened. New ones appeared around them, one thinner on each side of his original ones, as well as eyeshadow-like markings around his eyes. Some more ran down his neck and a few appeared on his exposed forearms. He looked glorious and terrifying.

Tobirama’s eyes opened and he fixed Madara with determined stare before he stood up, bashōsen in one hand and Raijin no ken on his hip. ‘Be careful.’ Madara’s hand reached out to squeeze his fingers on its own accord. ‘Don’t worry about me.’ Tobirama squeezed back and hiraishined himself away.

 

 

The battle between Tobirama and Kinkaku in his tailed beast form was something else. Madara knew just how fast Tobirama was but using his sage mode he was able to move so quickly he was almost impossible to track even with sharingan, dodging the tails and paws of the mini Kyuubi with ease while showering Kinkaku with various release jutsus.

Kinkaku spat out bijuu dama on several occasions, one of them even deploying one of Madara’s explosive tags traps and another aimed for his current hiding but he was able to move away and hide elsewhere. While he hated leaving everything up for Tobirama, he had his job – wait for the perfect opportunity to restrain the target.

Finally Tobirama lured Kinkaku where he wanted him – onto a place where his shadow clone previously prepared fuuinjutsu trap. As the trap reacted to Kinkaku’s chakra and switched on, long black chains lashed out of the centre of the trap to bind the target on its place.

 

‘Madara, now!’ Tobirama, panting hard, shouted on top of his lungs. That was his moment. Madara blurted out of the tree he was perched on and ran as quickly as possible, gripping the tag Tobirama gave him tightly. He couldn’t mess this up.

Unfortunately, just as he was a few paces away from his goal, Kinkaku, thrashing wildly against the restrains, managed to break some of the chains and one of his tails aimed at Madara. The Uchiha couldn’t possibly dodge that attack on time. ‘Damn, too quick!’ Madara cursed. ‘Madara!’ Tobirama yelped at the same time as the Uchiha instinctively screwed his eyes shut, anticipating the hard blow.

 

Only when it finally came, it didn’t feel like he was hit by a huge amount of hostile chakra. Instead something that distinctly felt like a human body collided with his own, sending him reeling backwards several yards until he was forcibly stopped by a tree.

Madara grunted in pain and shook his head to regain his senses. A pained hiss next to him immediately snapped him back to reality. Seeking its source his eyes found Tobirama lying next to him on his side, clutching on his stomach with one hand stained with blood, pale fingers of the other wrapped firmly around Madara’s forearm.

‘You… You’re too slow… Uchiha.’ Tobirama breathed out with difficulty, smirking despite obviously being in pain. ‘What have you done?!’ Madara yelled in disbelief, taking in the state of the Senju. ‘You used hiraishin to take that blow instead of me?!’ The Uchiha came to the most plausible conclusion.

‘You surely make a lot of noise for someone who says nothing of importance. Forget about me and seal him before he breaks out completely.’ Tobirama, somehow catching his breath, muttered through his gritted teeth. ‘But you’re badly wounded you idiot!’ Madara threw his arms up.

‘I’ll manage. Go, go now!’ Tobirama rasped and screw his eyes shut, searching in his hip pouch with one bloodied shaking hand and producing another tag. Madara watched him press it against his forehead and the markings of sage mode immediately faded.

‘I can’t leave you like this!’ Madara opposed but Tobirama shook his head weakly. ‘Mission comes first. We can’t let that monster roam freely. Take him down.’ The white-haired man said resolutely. Madara knew he was right but he was so conflicted about letting him to his own devices…

 

Kinkaku meanwhile raged in the fuuinjutsu trap so much he finally managed to get himself free of the last chains. ‘Bahahaha! The pretty Senju is dying, Uchiha. He knows it. And you can’t do anything about that! You can’t heal this wound quickly enough.’ The mini Kyuubi bellowed mockingly in its demon voice.

‘Tobirama?!’ Madara turned to the Senju lying next to him in a small pool of blood. Tobirama was paler than ever, his breathing laboured. ‘He’s not wrong.’ The Senju coughed out a bit of blood, yet he still smiled faintly. ‘No! You’re not allowed to die. I forbid that to you! Stay here and stay alive. Once I deal with this bastard I’ll take you back to Konoha.’ Madara swiped some of Tobirama’s sweat-soaked hair away from his eyes affectionately and stood up.

 

He was furious. He was absolutely raging. How dare he? How dare the motherfucker bring _his Senju_ to the brink of death?! Madara’s vision was swinging, darkening and clearing in rapid succession of painful pulses. What on earth was happening to his eyes?!

When his sight finally cleared and remained that way, he saw the world differently. He could _feel_ something was different. He could see more vividly, clearly, every tiny detail. Has he just awakened another yet unknown form of sharingan? Not even Uchiha knew all of its secrets as the abilities varied individually.

No better time to explore if his theory was right then now. As Madara focused his remaining chakra on his eyes, blue chakra cloak appeared around him, forming bones and rags of a giant form. It didn’t seem dissimilar from the tailed beast chakra cloak surrounding Kinkaku.

The mentioned fucker stopped cackling and currently was observing Madara warily. ‘I’ll make you suffer for even displacing a hair on Tobirama’s head you hybrid!’ Madara bellowed and lashed forward with infamous Uchiha rage in its purest form.

 

He didn’t remember much of the brief fight but once he subdued Kinkaku with the power of his new sharingan – at that point he had no doubts his eyes somehow evolved – he beat the crap out of him and sucked the kyuubi chakra out using Tobirama’s seal tag.

As he wasn’t used to the new jutsu his evolved sharingan provided, once he calmed down a bit from his homicidal frenzy it dissolved. Whipping his katana out of its sheath, Madara stood above Kinkaku who had to have all the bones crushed with the devastating force of the giant jutsu (Madara would have to come up with some name later) and couldn’t even move.

‘You shouldn’t have hurt Tobirama.’ Madara spat and bored his sword into Kinkaku’s chest where the heart was placed, killing him at last. Then he swiftly went through his pockets and fished out several scrolls. One of them was the one they were supposed to retrieve but other were obviously important too so Madara just took them all and ran back to Tobirama as fast as his tired body allowed.

 

The pool of blood seeping out of Tobirama’s stomach widened while he was fighting Kinkaku even though there was faint green light of medical jutsu surrounding Tobirama’s hand pressed against the wound. Madara bit his tongue and kneeled next to him, moving Tobirama into his arms as gently as he could.

‘Madara… Did you… Is he dead? Do you have the scroll?’ Tobirama cracked his eyes open but they were glassy and unfocused. ‘Yes, I do have the scroll. Can you… Can you heal it?’ Madara’s breath hitched as he pressed one of his hands against Tobirama’s healing one carefully.  

‘I don’t think so… Wounds inflicted by tailed beasts are difficult to heal and I don’t have much chakra left.’ Tobirama muttered with some difficulty. Madara’s throat tightened painfully and his eyes started burning. He thought it was from overexertion until he heard Tobirama chuckle.

 

‘Now, Uchiha. You wouldn’t… Cry because of me, would you?’ Tobirama’s chuckle morphed into coughing and more blood dripped out of his mouth. ‘Shut up, stupid. I’m not… crying.’ Madara hiccupped weakly, denying the obvious. ‘Here. I managed… To seal the fan into this. Take it all to Hashirama and Mito.’ Tobirama gestured towards a small scroll lying next to him in the dirt.

‘You shouldn’t have wasted your chakra dammit!’ Madara scolded angrily, somehow ruining the impression by sniffing loudly. ‘Listen, I will take us back to Konoha. It will most likely… Most likely cost me my remaining chakra, but you will be safe.’ Tobirama stopped healing his wound.

‘You can’t do that! I can… I will carry you back. You can endure that, you’re strong enough…’ Madara shook his head resolutely. ‘Madara. Madara stop!’ Tobirama cut him off softly. ‘Both of us know I can’t make the way back. You would be only carrying a corpse. Besides, you’re wounded too.’ Tobirama gestured vaguely to Madara’s form.

True, Madara wasn’t in his best shape but that was nothing. He had much worse. ‘I refuse this. There must be some other way…!’ The Uchiha pulled at his hair, trying and failing to come up with some better alternative. Tobirama simply entwined his fingers with Madara’s, successfully stopping him from panicking.

‘Take care of Hashirama. Pity we don’t have more time. I was beginning to like you, Uchiha.’ Tobirama smiled and squeezed Madara’s hand. ‘Senju, don’t you dare…!’ Madara didn’t get to finish as the white-haired man made a sign with his other hand and Madara felt himself being sucked into vortex of time-space. ‘Tobirama!’ Was the last desperate cry falling off his lips before his vision darkened. _‘Tobirama…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say I have zero regrets. I shall be awaiting you with pitchforks and torches at my doorstep. :D
> 
> *insert that evil Elmo gif here* xD


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take it, take it before I start to edit it too much. I just want to get rid of it already. :D 
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Madara didn’t exactly fall unconscious while thrown into space-time dimension but his mind was unfocused in weird sort of way. His insides were twisting sickeningly and he felt like he was being stretched in directions he deemed impossible.

When the sensation finally ended, Madara felt his body fall onto something hard, shattering it in process judging by the loud cracking noise. Two startled high-pitched yelps suggested he wasn’t alone. He blinked several times trying to get back his clouded vision, his guts and stomach swinging and threatening to make him sick.

 

‘Uchiha! Baby cousin! Tobirama! Madara! What happened?!’ Urgent yelling of two women reminded Madara of everything that occurred mere minutes ago and he realized he was cradling a body close to his own.

‘Tobirama… Tobirama wake up!’ Madara shook the limp form in his arms as gently as his panicked state allowed but no response came from the unnaturally pale man. ‘Tobirama, please! You can’t die just yet!’ Madara whimpered, ignoring completely two voices yelling at him.

 

‘Madara, calm down. I can help him but I need you to tell me what happened.’ Two warm hands on his cheeks raised his face gently and Madara was staring into a pair of wide hazel eyes belonging to Uzumaki Mito who was kneeling in front of him. Touka was standing right behind her arms akimbo, staring him down. ‘God dammit, speak, Uchiha!’ The Senju woman snapped.

‘He’s… He’s dying. He got hurt by Kyuubi chakra, hard to explain. Used last of his chakra to teleport us back to Konoha. I told him not to…’ Madara started gibbering confusedly. ‘What the hell are you on about?!’ Touka demanded loudly, only to be cut off by Mito.

‘Leave him be, he’s obviously shaken. Madara, let me check his condition. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt him any further.’ Mito said gently and after a moment of hesitation Madara nodded slowly, allowing her some space.  Under his watchful eyes, Mito removed Tobirama’s happuri and her hands started glowing faint blue-green as she put one of them over Tobirama’s forehead and the other moved around his torso.

‘I’m checking for chakra and blood flow.’ Mito explained what she was doing, frowning slightly as she was focusing on her task. Madara was really grateful she was telling him what was happening. Touka hovering above them was unnaturally dejected.

‘He’s barely alive. His chakra flow stopped, but I can feel some tiny bits of chakra left. We need to infuse some more into his chakra system and re-establish the flow before I start healing. I will need your help for this.’ Mito informed him. Madara released the breath he didn’t know he was holding with ugly sob of relief. Thank kami, Tobirama was still alive!

 

‘I’ll go get Hashirama.’ Touka murmured, finally putting herself into some good use and allowing them some sort of privacy in the process. ‘What do I do?’ Madara demanded urgently. ‘Put your hand over there. The base chakra pulse is placed there. You know how to push chakra into objects, right?’ Mito placed Madara’s hand over Tobirama’s lower abdomen where she was previously checking him.

‘Yeah. Tobirama showed me. You want me to give him some of my chakra?’ Madara caught up pretty quickly. ‘Exactly. Don’t worry, we are doing it together.’ Mito put her hand over Madara’s and it started glowing again. ‘Go ahead, he needs you.’ She urged as softly as possible.

Madara took a deep breath and did a few signs Tobirama taught him with his free hand, allowing his chakra seep freely out of his other one. ‘Good! Keep going.’ Mito encouraged him, infusing the mixture of both her green healing chakra and Madara’s red one into Tobirama’s body.

 

They kept doing the same for a while. Madara didn’t know if it was minutes or hours, he was only focused on his task. He got to save Tobirama. He had to. ‘I think that’s enough, his chakra flow is stable enough for now. I need to do something about the wound and quick. Will you help me move him?’ The Uzumaki retracted her hand and wiped on her forehead.

Only then Madara registered where they were. Tobirama apparently teleported them straight into Hashirama’s living room and their landing caused destruction of the tea table. ‘Of course. Where to?’ Madara lifted Tobirama’s motionless body with ease (trying not to despair about the impression as if he was cradling a giant ragdoll) and followed Mito who led him into one of the guest rooms.

 

‘Put him on the bed. We need to strip him out of his armour.’ Mito ordered when she removed the bed covers and hurried out of the door to presumably fetch her medic kit. Under different circumstances Madara would object being ordered around by her but right now he trusted she knew what she was doing, unlike himself.

With his fingers clumsy as he rushed too much – Tobirama needed help, no time to be wasted – Madara unstrapped the blue chest plate covering the Senju’s upper torso and set the damaged piece of armour aside together with the dirtied white fur collar fastened to it. Then he made a quick process with arm covers strapped around Tobirama’s biceps and removed his hip pouches.

Just as he was about to take off the sandals, Mito strode into the room again, lacking her usual robes and only clad in simple fishnet armour, yukata and pants she was wearing underneath. She was armed with her medical kit, a bucket of warm water and towels.

‘Good job, we need to get rid of his shirt too though. What?’ The Uzumaki tilted her head questioningly at Madara’s startled expression. ‘There’s no time for fretting about seeing Tobes topless, just get on with it.’ Mito rolled her eyes once she realized what the issue was.

 

While she was pottering around preparing her medical devices, Madara reluctantly took out a kunai and ripped the already damaged shirt so he could take it off more easily. He chuckled humourlessly, for all possible occasions he was imagining how he would strip Tobirama, this one certainly didn’t cross his mind.

‘Splendid. I’ll need you to step away for now, I need space.’ Mito stepped towards the bed, sleeves rolled up and hair fastened in negligently made messy bun so uncharacteristic for her always pristine elegance. Madara opened his mouth to protest, only to be cut off.

‘Cease the objections, Uchiha. I won’t make you leave the room, just move over here.’ Mito flashed a very brief smile and motioned towards the chair placed next to the head of the bed. ‘Thank you.’ Madara breathed out, genuinely grateful, and slid down the chair tiredly.

At last the adrenaline wave started to wash down and all the exhaustion from the vicious fight and emotional exhaustion alike flooded him instead. He wasn’t able to do much more than just reach out for Tobirama’s hand and clutch it, desperately wishing they wouldn’t be too late. The Uzumaki only smirked knowingly but was merciful enough not to comment on that.

 

Mito was working for a while, frowning with concentration and worry alike. ‘This isn’t good. If the wound was inflicted by normal chakra or a weapon, it wouldn’t be that hard to close it, even though it’s pretty severe. But you were right, I distinctly recognize Kyuubi chakra in it.’ Mito sighed, biting her lower lip.

‘You can still do something, right?’ Madara pleaded. ‘I have some ideas.’ Mito nodded resolutely and pressed her hands together, fingers entwined in a sign. ‘Strenght of a Hundred Seal, kai!’ On that order black thick lines ran from the purple diamond-shaped tattoo on her forehead, entwining all around her body. Madara never saw her use the seal and he had to be staring too intently as Mito proceeded to explain.

‘Byakugō no In allows me to instantly regenerate any wounds I acquire in a fight and faster healing of severe wounds. That will be of use now.’ Mito enlightened him briefly and placed her hands over Tobirama’s stomach once more. The glow emitted by the healing chakra was more blue than green now and much more intense.

 

 

She continued to push her chakra into the wound meticulously when the door flew open and Hashirama with Touka and Izuna in tow ran into the room. ‘Tobirama! Is he alive? Madara, what happened to my little brother?’ The elder Senju was clutching the bloodied happuri in his hands, expression of utter fright plastered on his face. ‘Hashirama, stop shouting, I need to concentrate. Yes, he’s still alive.’ Mito answered curtly, successfully toning Hashirama’s fretting a bit down.

‘Sorry, snuggle-bunny. How is he faring?’ Hashirama sniffed and caressed Tobirama’s cheek softly. ‘Not that well. He lost a lot of blood and Kyuubi chakra is preventing me from healing the slash properly. I’d try and counter its effects using my own but there’s no say what result would that have. And I’d rather not risk releasing the hakke fuuin seal, I’m not in sync with the Nine tails.’ Mito glanced up from her task, her face somber. Madara’s heart fell as well as Hashirama’s face scrunched in pain.

‘I need to know what happened. Touka only said something about Kyuubi and Tobirama dying.’ Hashirama squatted in front of Madara, begging him with his wide cow eyes to explain. ‘You may want to sit down for this.’ Madara gestured towards the other chair in the room. Having time to calm down somehow Madara was finally able to retell the events of the fight with Gold and Silver brothers.

 

‘We ambushed our targets as planned and managed to eliminate Ginkaku. We have no idea how but Kinkaku possessed Kyuubi chakra as if he was a pseudo-jinchuuriki or something and went on rampage after witnessing his twin death. Tobirama took a blow caused by one of the tails.’ Madara reported mechanically, squashing the hand he was clutching on.

‘It’s my fault. It was meant for me. I was too slow to dodge and for some reason Tobirama used his hiraishin seal on my forearm to jump in the way.’ The Uchiha hung his head, screwing his eyes shut to prevent more tears spilling out. He didn’t want to cry in front of all of the people currently squished in the room.

‘I so wonder why he would do that…’ Touka muttered while Izuna yelped in surprise. ‘You have the hiraishin seal on you? I didn’t know! When did he… Ooof!’ His stream of questions was, thank kami, stopped by Touka’s elbow aimed right under his ribs.

 

‘Don’t blame yourself Madara, I’m sure Tobirama had his reasons to do what he did. Please continue, what happened then?’ Hashirama leaned closer, worry twisting his normally handsome face. ‘After that… I’m not very sure. Tobirama was bleeding out. I was so furious I was only seeing red. Something happened to my sharingan. It changed. And unlocked some kind of new jutsu. I killed Kinkaku and retrieved the scrolls. They are over there.’ Madara continued in short sentences as it all didn’t really make much sense to him yet.

‘What do you mean, your sharingan changed? What was the jutsu like?’ Izuna demanded, as would be expected from any fellow Uchiha. ‘It was like a blue chakra giant was surrounding me. I can’t explain it properly. Can we talk about this later?’ Madara pulled at his hair. All this talking inflicted some major headache pulsing at his temples.

 

‘After killing that son of a bitch I returned to Tobirama. He insisted he would bring us back to Konoha using hiraishin even at the expense of using his remaining chakra. I tried to stop him, I really did, but…’ Madara’s voice broke and he couldn’t contain the tears any longer.

‘That’s alright, you couldn’t prevent it. Tobirama is as stubborn as a mule if he wants to.’ Hashirama placed his palm onto his best friends’ shoulder in a reassuring manner. ‘Now the basics were covered and everybody calmed down a bit, could you _kindly please_ leave the room and let me work in peace?’ Their quiet moment was interrupted by obviously miffed Mito.

‘Do you need any help?’ Hashirama offered, visibly suppressing tears. He was a renowned healer himself after all. ‘Not at present. But maybe you could check Madara over, he looks terrible.’ Mito nodded her head in the Uchiha’s direction. ‘Understood. Madara, could you please go with me for now?’ Hashirama asked gently. Madara didn’t want to part from Tobirama until he knew the white-haired man was out of danger but it probably was for the best not to disturb Mito any more.

‘Mito is far better healer than me. If anyone knows how to save Tobi, it’s her. We have to trust her abilities now.’ Hashirama squeezed his shoulder perhaps a bit too forcefully, obviously trying to convince himself as well. ‘Alright. I’m counting on you, Uzumaki.’ Madara finally let go of Tobirama’s hand with great reluctance and followed Hashirama out of the room and into the bathroom.

 

 

‘Do you have any significant injuries?’ Hashirama inquired once they stepped into the room. ‘None that I know of. Didn’t really care about my own state. Just some cuts and scrapes and bruises and chakra exhaustion I reckon.’ Madara proceeded to unstrap his own red armour to allow Hashirama check him over.

‘Mmm. You have several ribs fractured. Lucky that none punctured the lungs.’ Hashirama murmured mostly for himself. ‘Yeah, I did hit a tree pretty harshly, now you mention it.’ Madara uttered. The dark-haired Senju nodded and continued to work silently. Madara himself wasn’t exactly in mood for chit-chat either, he just stood more or less patiently, letting Hashirama do his job.

 

‘I healed what I could. The bruising will fade on its own, give it some time. You will probably feel sore too for a few days, if it bothers you too much I can give you some painkillers. As for the depleted chakra, you just need some proper rest.’ Hashirama stepped away when he was finally done. ‘You should take a nice hot shower. Towels are over there; I’ll send Izuna to fetch you some clothes.’ The Senju continued when Madara grunted in means of thanks.

‘Fine, so I’ll leave you for a while and check on Tobirama.’ Hashirama nodded and made for the door. He paused with the hand on the door handle and glanced across his shoulder. ‘And Madara… Thank you. For bringing him back. And for caring. He’ll survive, I’m sure of it. Tobi is a fighter.’ Hashirama murmured sincerely. The Uchiha merely nodded in mutual understanding as his throat was suddenly all too tight and he was left alone at last.

 

 

Madara was standing under the hot shower for a small eternity, diligently scraping all the dirt and blood of the battle from his skin. Was the blood under his nails his own? Kinkaku’s as he was breaking every last bone in the bastard’s body, depriving him of his worthless existence? Or was it Tobirama’s when it was slowly pouring out of him along with his life?

Why did he do it, why? Tobirama didn’t owe him anything, why would he risk his own life for him? He should have let him take the blow. He said he was starting to like Madara though, didn’t he? There was something about kissing too before the fight broke… Could it mean that…?

Madara’s knees gave up under him and he slid down on the shower floor, tears flooding his vision once more at the realization of the meaning of Tobirama’s act of self-sacrifice. Tobirama liked him, maybe possibly loved him back. Yes, _back_. Madara was never so certain of anything like he was about affection for the Senju he was harbouring.

And now Tobirama was fighting for his life just one room down the corridor and it was Madara’s fault. And he wasn’t able to do anything about it. The feeling of helplessness and despair was consuming, burning his insides like the hottest fires he ever created and pouring out through his eyes as waterfalls of misery. Madara bit down on his knuckles in an attempt to supress the hiccups so no one in the house would hear his breakdown.

 

When he was out of tears after what could be mere minutes or hours, Madara scrambled back on his wobbly legs and finished cleaning himself mechanically, trying and failing to banish dark thoughts from his mind. Just as he stepped out of the shower and dried himself haphazardly with the first towel he found, tentative knocking on the bathroom door startled him out of his dark musings.

‘Aniki, may I come in?’ Izuna’s carefully guarded voice came from the other side of the door. ‘You may.’ Madara answered quietly, trying to get as much of the water out the wet uncontrollable chaos of his hair as possible. ‘Hashirama sent me for your clothes. I brought your favourite yukata…’ Izuna came in and deposited the bundle of fabric onto a nearby basket.

‘How are you feeling?’ Madara felt Izuna’s warm palm on his shoulder. The elder leaned into the touch instinctively. ‘I haven’t felt this miserable for years. Not since they brought Haruma and Takuma back…’ Madara’s voice broke and he turned around abruptly, throwing himself into comforting embrace of his younger brother.

 

Izuna only wrapped his arms around him tightly and sank his fingers into Madara’s wet mane when the elder Uchiha buried his face into the crook of Izuna’s neck. ‘There, there. It’s going to be alright. Tobirama is a stubborn fool, he’ll manage to pull through, you’ll see. And then you can happily go back to flirting with each other and disguising it as disdainful bickering.’ Izuna murmured reassuringly.

Madara didn’t really have the energy to deny Izuna’s statements. And why would he anyway? Izuna was right. All those years wasted by pretending he didn’t like Tobirama while he secretly wished for his attention and couldn’t come up with any other way to get it than by aggravating the man. How stupid he was.

‘It’s good to see you finally realized what I see for so long. You two were insufferable sometimes. All that tension, sometimes I could just cut through it with my katana.’ Izuna chuckled quietly, apparently having the same thoughts. ‘You were dropping the hints all the time…’ Madara mumbled into his neck. ‘Yet you both remained stubbornly blind. You have no idea how frustrating that was sometimes.’ Izuna replied with slight amusement in his voice.

‘You were always more perceptive about these things than me. Just like okaa-san.’ Madara sighed and finally lifted his head. Izuna handed him a paper towel to wipe his nose with, kind enough not to comment on the huge wet spot Madara made on his shoulder.

‘And now I maybe won’t be even able to tell him…’ Madara hung his head. ‘Don’t say that. We must have some hope in him. Come on, let’s get you dressed. There’s food waiting for you, you must be hungry.’ Izuna untangled them and reached for the clothes he brought, helping Madara make himself somewhat presentable.

 

 

‘I’m famished, actually, but I don’t think I can stomach much of anything, even less something you made.’ Madara said when they left the bathroom and aimed for the kitchen. ‘Good thing it was Touka cooking this time, not me.’ Izuna grinned at Madara’s quiet groan.

‘Uchiha, finally! Were you trying to dissolve in there? I’ve been reheating the curry past twenty minutes!’ Said Senju woman barked from the stove and waved the ladle in vaguely threatening manner. ‘Sorry. I didn’t know you were waiting for me.’ Madara grimaced and winced as he was forcibly sat down behind the table by the strong tanned hand of hers.

‘Don’t worry about that. Now, eat! This will definitely help you get your chakra levels back to normal in no time!’ Touka grinned and deposited a bowl full of dangerously vibrant red substance in front of the Uchiha. ‘If it doesn’t kill me first…’ Madara murmured for himself eyeing the curry with suspicion, making her cackle. ‘Now, now. Only weaklings can’t take my curry and damn sure you ain’t one.’ Touka patted his back, making him lose his breath for a moment.

 

‘If you say so…’ Madara sighed and loaded his spoon with the red broth under Touka’s expectant supervision. Every instinct was rebelling in him as he put it in his mouth with great reluctance and for a good reason too. Once the curry touched his tongue it was as if a volcano just exploded in his mouth, burning all of his taste buds in an instant. Tears flooded his eyes and he was suddenly feeling all too hot.

Despite his survival instincts (or perhaps just because of them) Madara swallowed his mouthful and showed thumbs up to Touka, unable to produce a word. ‘See? I told you! It’s one of my special recipes just for occasions like this. Izuna dear, you will take a bowl too, _right?_ ’ Touka smiled all too brightly at the younger Uchiha who sat across from Madara and currently was supressing giggles at his older sibling’s ordeal.

‘Actually, I’m not that…’ Izuna’s eyes widened with fear as he tried to weasel his way out of his doom but Touka smiled a bit more widely in that way of hers that meant murder so he just nodded resignedly. ‘Of-of course, sugar plum. I’d love to.’ Izuna said quietly, most likely saying goodbye to his own taste.

 

Once Izuna was suffering just the same, Madara felt considerable better sharing the terrible experience of being forced to consume possibly spiciest curry in the history of the mankind. ‘Good boys! There’s plenty if you want to help yourself to some more.’ Touka sat down next to Izuna, who was valiantly trying to act as if he was enjoying the meal despite the tears rolling down his cheeks, and she dug in. Madara’s eyes widened with astonishment when she stuffed her face with a large mouthful and the curry had absolutely no effect on her.

‘What?’ Touka paused in munching, blinking several times. ‘I always knew you were an embodiment of a devil. Glad to have it officially confirmed.’ Madara replied, making Touka cackle loudly. ‘Why thanks for the compliment!’ She inclined her head graciously.

 

‘Hashirama is still in the room with Mito. They’ve been in there for quite some time. I wonder how Tobirama’s doing…’ Touka suddenly sobered, her expression turning gloomy. ‘Look… I’m sorry for yelling at you before. I was… Agitated.’ The Senju woman leaned closer and reached out across the table to touch Madara’s hand resting on top of the desk. Madara did his best not to flinch at the unexpected tenderness.

‘It’s alright. You had to be understandably shocked when we appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the living room…’ Madara looked up to meet her eyes. ‘No kidding. You almost scared the shit out of me. I’m already used to Tobirama materializing out of thin air after all those years but since you weren’t in the village I really didn’t expect that. Add on top of that your state and that I was on high alert guarding our resident jinchuuriki…’ Touka chuckled humourlessly.

‘No harm done. We’re just fine.’ Madara reassured. ‘Good! I wouldn’t want to quarrel with my baby cousin’s boyfriend. Not more than necessary, that is.’ Touka patted his hand, smirking mischievously as Madara cleared his throat, blushing deep shade of red. ‘We’re not that far…’ The Uchiha grumbled into his bowl.

‘Come on, give me some details! Tobirama never says anything. How far did you two get? Did you…???’ Touka waved her hand vaguely instead of finishing the sentence, thank gods. ‘Did we _what_ _now?!_ ’ Madara yelped. ‘Well, you know. Kiss at least?’ Touka leaned closer, Izuna next to her, who was suspiciously quiet the whole time, most likely because his vocal chords got burned by the curry, mimicking her eagerly.

‘Tobirama… Suggested we _might_ kiss. But then Kinkaku and Ginkaku appeared, so…’ Madara mumbled to satisfy their curiosity, eyes firmly trained on the curry he was currently attacking with the spoon. ‘Oh dear, you two take ages. But that’s at least _something._ Disappointing but a progress nonetheless. I hope he’ll wake up soon, I can’t wait to see you two being awkwardly shy around each other.’ Touka laughed and elbowed Izuna conspicuously.

 

 

Madara didn’t have time to get all properly riled up as the door down the hall creaked and two pair of footsteps aimed for the kitchen, bringing in two utterly tired out healers. Mito slumped down the chair and tucked a few loose strands of her red mane behind her ear while Hashirama poured them both a cup of tea.

‘So? I suppose the lack of weeping means you have good news?’ Touka was the first one to pose the question everyone desired to know answer for, much to Madara’s gratitude. He wasn’t sure he hasn’t swallowed his tongue considering the nervous ball blocking his throat. ‘He’s out of danger for now.’ Mito smiled faintly at their relieved faces.

‘Thank gods…’ Madara breathed out, a huge rock that was previously weighting his chest falling off and allowing him to breathe more freely. ‘The worse news is, the wound isn’t fully healed and he’s in a coma. We tried everything but we came to the conclusion only bijuu chakra can counter its own effects. Until we figure something out…’ Hashirama said quietly, immediately dampening the relieved moment they were all sharing.

 

‘What are your suggestions?’ Izuna finally found his voice, all raspy as it was full of concern for his best friend. ‘We could try using the Kyuubi chakra inside me but… The demon is reacting badly to feeling its own chakra even with the seal fully closed. I can’t imagine what would happen should I loosen the seal. It’s a possible danger for the whole village.’ Mito explained seriously.

‘The easiest way would be making a jinchuuriki out of Tobirama himself but that’s insanity. Besides, we don’t know anything about other tailed beasts’ current whereabouts and who knows how long would it take to find any…’ Hashirama ran his hand through his long tresses that were currently a tangled mess in a frustrated gesture.

‘Hold on. Where are the scrolls we brought here?’ Madara perked up. Something he read in one of those when he briefly flew through their content might just be their solution. ‘Still in the room along with Tobirama’s stuff. Why?’ Hashirama tilted his head. ‘I need to check on something.’ Madara stood up so quickly he knocked the chair over and hurried out of the kitchen followed by several confused voices.

 

In front of Tobirama’s door he stopped though and hesitated to go in. Breathing in and out to gather the courage, Madara opened the door and came inside. Tobirama was lying on the bed, only his red marks and silver hair standing out against the white sheets, thus pale he was. One might say he was dead if it wasn’t for the tiny raises of his chest. Madara’s heart clenched at the sight.

He made a few hurried steps towards the bed and knelt down, taking Tobirama’s hand between his two own. It was lacking its usual warmness and once more Madara had to blink away the tears that started to gather behinds his eyelids. ‘I’m sorry, Tobirama. I’m so sorry this happened to you because of me…’ Madara whispered, leaning his forehead against their entwined hands.

What would Tobirama say if he could? He would probably scoff and berate him for being pathetic. _‘Stop being so dramatic, Uchiha, I’m not dead yet.’_ He could hear Tobirama clearly in his head, practically seeing the eye-roll softened by a fond smirk. How could he not see the affection in the Senju’s behaviour before?

‘You’re right. I need to stop whining. I can’t be such a disgrace for you.’ Madara frowned in determination and stood up to retrieve the scrolls he came for. Once he had them all gathered, he returned to the bed. ‘Hold on, Tobirama. Do it for me. I’ll do everything in my power to save you, you have my promise.’ Madara leaned down to place a kiss on Tobirama’s forehead and strode out of the room.

 

Under the watch of several pairs of eyes Madara sat down again and unrolled the first scroll. ‘Mmm. Not this one…’ He set it aside for Hashirama to inspect it and took another. Mito grabbed the one they were supposed to retrieve and unwrapped it too. ‘You managed to get it undamaged, excellent.’ She quickly scanned through it and closed it again with a seal.

‘Oh, you will like these I reckon. Tobirama told me something about treasured tools of the Sage of Six paths, they used the elemental fan against us – bashōsen was it? – and Tobirama managed to take it from them and seal it into a scroll. I think these have sealed something similar in it.’ Madara handed Mito over a few smaller scrolls that weren’t containing what he was seeking.

‘They possessed one of the treasured tools? How did they get it? Where did they found it?’ Hashirama wondered. Mito took the scroll into the adjoined living room and released the seals on several of them, revealing a golden canopy rope, small crimson gourd, light blue sword and a bigger brown gourd. ‘Apparently they possessed several. All of them, actually. These are indeed kōkinjō, benihisago, shichiseiken and kohaku no jōhei. They really were resourceful.’ Mito announced with amazement.

‘Oh, let me see it too!’ Touka, as was expected from the weapon lover she was, joined her at once and grabbed the sword enthusiastically, followed by curious Izuna and baffled Hashirama. ‘We really were lucky you managed to get those from them. I did not expect the mission to be thus successful.’ Mito released the last seal as well, completing the set of treasured tools with the banana leaf fan. Madara just grunted in agreement, scanning through yet another scroll.

 

‘There, got it!’ Madara exclaimed, thrilled about having his assumptions confirmed. ‘Will you tell us already what is this about, aniki?’ Izuna came closer to peer into the text over his shoulder. ‘I only looked through them very briefly but I did remember one of those reports mentioned Nibi no Nekomata. It seems like the Two-tails was their next target, just as I thought.’ Madara explained.

In an instance treasured tools were forgotten in favour of the information on Nibi. ‘Are you for real? Does the scroll mention where the Two-tails currently resides?’ Hashirama attempted to tear the scroll out of Madara’s hands, only to be graced by a scorching glare from the Uchiha that made him back away a little.

‘Yes, it speaks of the forests in north part of the Land of Rivers. Apparently there were a few accidents suggesting a bijuu activity and even several witnesses claiming they saw a giant blue demon in the woods.’ Madara summed up what the scroll was saying on the matter. The whole group exchanged hopeful looks.

‘How can we know they hadn’t already managed to capture the Nibi though?’ Izuna piped up warily. ‘Doubtful. At the end of the report it is said that sealing the two-tails would require more preparations to avoid the same failure as with the nine-tails. It is dated only from a week ago.’ Madara shook his head while a triumphant grin made its way onto his face.

‘We seem to be in favour with the gods.’ Hashirama murmured, voice thick with emotions. ‘We need to set out to capture the Nibi as soon as possible but we have to plan it cautiously.’ The dark-haired Senju frowned in determination, emitting that kind of strength and resolution that made him a respectable hokage despite all of his obvious flaws.

 

‘I will go.’ Madara met Hashirama’s eyes firmly. ‘You only just arrived and your chakra reserves are not back to normal yet. I think it would be wiser if I went.’ Hashirama countered. ‘Nonsense. You’re a hokage, you can’t just come and go as you please.’ Madara opposed.

‘But…’ Hashirama tried but was interrupted by Touka. ‘He’s not wrong, Hashi. As much as I hate to say it, we need you here in the village. Mito can’t leave either from obvious reasons and I’m supposed to stay with her all the time should anything happen to the seal. And I wouldn’t entrust anyone else with the task than one of us five.’ The Senju woman presented her arguments.

‘What’s with the seal?’ Madara’s sight slid down onto the Uzumaki’s stomach. ‘It’s weakened but now’s not the right time to explain why.’ Mito said cryptically and Madara shrugged. ‘That leaves only me and aniki and I can imagine the fit Uchiha elders would throw should we both leave the village at the same time pretty vividly…’ Izuna bit down on his lower lip worriedly.

 

‘So we’re back to the original idea – it has to be me.’ Madara crossed his arms. ‘You can’t just singlehandedly take on a tailed beast! Besides, you know next to nothing about fuuinjutsu. How do you want to seal the Nibi if you manage to capture it?’ Hashirama mimicked the gesture.

‘I managed to subdue tailed beast version of Kinkaku just fine. And you know I can easily enough cast a genjutsu just as I did with the Kyuubi when it decided to pay Konoha a visit and rampage around the village before Mito made herself a living container of raw chakra.’ Madara rolled his eyes. Everyone shuddered involuntary at the reminder of the Kyuubi surprise attack a few years ago. It wasn’t a nice memory.

‘Also if I might add, my new improved sharingan is stronger than before so the genjutsu would likely work much better.’ Madara pushed on. ‘That could work. I could provide you with scrolls containing seals. If you placed those around Nibi once it’s subdued and released the seals they would do the job for you. It doesn’t require much experience with fuuinjutsu and your chakra control is good enough for it to work out…’ Mito tapped her chin thoughtfully.

‘Has everybody lost their minds? You seriously think it’s a good idea to send Madara on his own? Does no one care about Tobirama’s life that’s depending on success of this endeavour?’ Hashirama deadpanned and threw his arms up in exasperation.

‘Hashirama, rest assured that Tobirama’s well-being is my utmost priority. I’m doing it for him.’ Madara’s voice lowered a pitch into dangerous growl. Mito put her palm on Hashirama’s chest to prevent him from speaking. ‘He’s being honest. I think we should let him have his way.’ The Uzumaki unexpectedly stood up for him. Hashirama’s mouth snapped shut to form a childish pout but he ceased his protests for a time being.

 

‘I guess we should all get some rest. It’s pretty late and we need to do the preparations in as short time as possible. I don’t know how about you guys, but personally I’m exhausted.’ Mito suggested, seeing that everyone’s agitation dissipated, her idea supported by Izuna’s wide yawn.

‘You don’t have to go home at such a late hour. We can set you futons in the living room once I seal the treasured tools back into their scrolls.’ Mito offered and glanced meaningfully at Hashirama, who took the clue and obediently walked away to prepare the bedding.

 

 

‘I’m going to check on Tobirama.’ Madara said to no one in particular since Izuna and Touka started bickering about sleeping arrangements and Mito was focused on sealing. Her palm on his forearm considerably surprised him and he let himself be led into the corridor.

‘You love him, don’t you?’ Mito’s question was pretty straightforward. ‘You don’t have to tell me, I can feel it clearly now.’ She winked, amused by Madara’s loss of words. ‘Madara, I can feel people’s emotions in case you forgot.’ Mito clarified with a small huff, much to his relief and horror at the same time. ‘It took you much longer than Tobes. I’m so happy for you two!’ She giggled and hugged him, completely throwing Madara off.

‘You need some time alone I suppose. I’ll leave you to your musings.’ Mito squeezed his forearm sincerely and left him standing in front of the door to Tobirama’s room. Madara was, quite frankly, baffled. Uzumaki Mito and her moods were even bigger enigma than her husbands’. And just how many people knew about his feelings before he was able to realize having them? Was he really that embarrassingly stupid?

 

 

Coming into the room Madara lighted a few candles on the little table and sat down heavily onto the chair still placed next to the bed. Tobirama was lying utterly still, as if he was made of porcelain. Without hesitation Madara took his hand into his own again and started to caress it absentmindedly.

‘Tobirama, I found a solution. You probably won’t like it but it’s the best plan we have.’ Madara started talking quietly, as if Tobirama could hear. ‘You will be so damn terrifying as a jinchuuriki. Not that you weren’t before.’ The Uchiha chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

‘That’s what I had to admire about you even back then when we exactly weren’t on best terms. Quick judgement, even faster reflexes, your ability to find the best solution and carry the deed out even if it was risky.’ Madara continued his monologue. ‘And watching you fight is admittedly a delight. Such efficiency, perfect fluid movements… You’re intimidating. Maybe that’s why I always felt like we have to compete.’ Madara smirked.

 

‘But I didn’t come to ramble nonsensically… I just wanted to see you before I pass out. I’m pretty… exhausted…’ Madara blinked owlishly and yawned. ‘I have a lot of to tell you, y’know. You need to… wake up soon.’ His speech was slurred as he was fighting to stay awake.

‘Mmm. I don’t wanna leave you yet… You won’t mind if I nap for a moment, will you?’ Madara brought the chair closer so he could rest his weary head on the pillow. As soon as his head hit the cushion his eyes closed on their own volition. He only distantly registered Mito's quiet snort and a blanket being wrapped around his shoulders before he fell into deep slumber, nose nuzzling against Tobirama's shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! I absolutely loved your comments under the previous chapter! I shall respond asap, I'm mentally drained now. Thank you so much for all of them and the kudos! <3
> 
> I just want to add - I have no idea where the story is going at this point. It got completely out of my control. So please be patient with updates, thank you! <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6k words of nothing happening. I'm not sorry. :D
> 
> Enjoy! (:

Madara woke up nursing some major pain in the neck. Blinking owlishly a few times he took in his surroundings and remembered he fell asleep in Tobirama’s room in not exactly comfortable position. He sat up, twisting his neck until he heard a loud pop and groaned in satisfaction.

‘Eh, morning, Tobirama. I’d ask if you slept well but it somehow doesn’t sound very funny…’ Madara mumbled around a yawn and stretched his sore limbs. The blanket draped around his body slid onto the floor in the process and he eyed the leaf pattern on it critically. ‘Right. The Uzumaki came in during the night… That’s embarrassing.’ Madara sighed and rubbed his eyes.

‘I’m afraid I have to leave you for now and get some breakfast.’ He commented when his stomach growled loudly to remind him of its empty state. ‘Stay where you are. Okay, that was lame. I’ll be back.’ Madara reached out to caress Tobirama’s pale freckled cheek tenderly. He was just debating whether he should dare to kiss his forehead too when noises outside of the room foiled his intentions so he made for the door instead.

 

‘Ah, aniki! You’re up already. I was just about to shake you awake, breakfast’s ready.’ Izuna patted his back cheerfully and his face split into shit-eating grin. ‘You have the worst case of bed hair. Also there are pillow marks on your face.’ Izuna snickered, making Madara grumble.

‘You didn’t return yesterday. Not that I’m complaining about being left alone with Touka the whole night, mind you.’ Izuna continued conversationally when Madara didn’t reply and waggled his brows cheekily. ‘As if it was anything significant. I highly doubt she allowed you anything.’ Madara glanced at him sceptically.

‘I’ll have you known, she let me put my futon next to hers.’ Izuna stuck his nose into the air. ‘Where’s the catch?’ Madara asked, running his fingers through the mess of his hair in attempt to get some semblance of respectable looks, failing spectacularly. ‘There were two feet of free space between us.’ Izuna wilted a little and Madara snorted. Just as he expected, Touka was still enjoying herself torturing the love-struck oaf.

 

‘Uchiha! Just on time, I need free hands. Could you please place the teapot and cups onto the table?’ Mito ordered en lieu of greetings once he set foot into the kitchen. ‘Sure. Do you need any more help?’ Madara offered, conscious of the fact he and Mito were the only ones in the house currently capable of cooking anything edible.

‘Not really, thank you. It’s all finished already. Just dig in, I’ll join you in a bit.’ Mito smiled brilliantly, apparently in good mood. There was something different about her, some unknown aura, as if she was glowing but Madara couldn’t put his finger on it. He resolved to observe her more closely.

 

The table was already occupied by Hashirama who was yawning so widely Madara had the impression he was about to dislocate his jaw any second. Next to him very disgruntled Touka, who was a terror in the mornings, kept scowling at her empty plate, tapping her fingers onto the desk impatiently as Izuna was spreading marmalade on a piece of toast bread for her.

‘Madara! Mito told me you woke up sooner and already went to check up on Tobi. How is he?’ Hashirama inquired once his mouth snapped shut and Madara seated himself. The Uchiha blinked in confusion. Didn’t Hashirama know he was in the room the whole night? Why would Mito keep something like that from him? Whatever her reason was, he decided to just go with the flow.

‘Yeah. He’s still the same although I don’t know if it’s good or bad.’ Madara sighed. ‘Mmm. Considering our situation, we can be glad for it, I suppose.’ Hashirama replied, similarly gloomy. ‘Would you shut up for a while? It’s too early for serious talks. Izuna, pray tell darkling, what’s taking you so long dammit?’ Touka chimed in, growling irritably.

‘Here, sugar plum, all done! Just the way you like them.’ Izuna chirped and hurried to appease her ire by making an offering out of several toasts. The Senju woman snatched them out of his hand without saying anything and started munching slowly. Izuna grinned sheepishly and Hashirama with Madara exchanged a glance of mutual pity over the younger Uchiha. He had it rough with her. But then again, he knew very well what he was getting himself into and didn’t seem to mind.

Madara helped himself to some apple pie and tea. Everyone was mostly keeping to themselves, munching being the only sound for a while until Mito joined them. She seated herself across from Madara, her plate loaded with dill pickles, blackberry jelly, and sandwiches that suspiciously seemed stuffed with peanut butter and celery. The combination was awfully disgusting, but he didn’t comment on that.

 

‘So, I’ve been thinking…’ Hashirama started, only to be interrupted. ‘Shocking.’ Touka uttered with a sneer. ‘Touka please. As I said, I’ve been thinking. Do we really need to capture the Nibi? Why don’t we use any of the treasured tools we obtained from Gold and Silver brothers to suck Kyuubi chakra out of Tobirama?’ The dark-haired Senju suggested.

‘That’s wouldn’t be a bad idea, except for one very important detail. While kohaku no jōhei certainly can seal a person, it requires the person to answer its calling. Which is, obviously, impossible since Tobirama is unconscious. Similarly with kōkinjō, benihisago and shichiseiken that work with the sealed person’s most frequent word.’ Mito explained and Hashirama’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

‘I see. Maybe I should have read something more about them first. I don’t remember all that well how they work, it’s Tobi who soaks up stuff like that.’ Hashirama pouted. ‘Also the main point here is not seal all of Tobirama’s chakra. We just need to remove the bijuu chakra blocking his root chakra gate that took damage with the blow. That’s vital for his survival. Once bijuu chakra floods his whole chakra system the lump of Kyuubi chakra on the sacral gate should dissolve and Tobirama will wake up.’ Mito continued patiently.

‘Although, now you mentioned the treasured tools, I got a better idea. We could use kohaku no jōhei for sealing the Nibi instead of a trap made out of several seals. That would make Madara’s job even easier, provided he’ll be able to trick the demon into answering the pot’s calling.’ Mito tapped her chin.

 

Madara mulled over the information obtained. Who would have guessed chakra stuff was so complicated. All he ever needed to know was how to mould the chakra into jutsu. ‘How about the senjutsu though? Tobirama confided he has problems to endure being near huge reserves of intense chakra. From what I gathered, tailed beasts are basically concentrated chakra taking a form of living beings. Won’t it hurt him having one stored inside himself?’ An uncomfortable idea occurred the elder Uchiha.

‘That’s an understandable worry but it shouldn’t pose any problems. On contrary to being near Hashirama using Sage mode for example, Tobes never manifested any significant troubles being near me. As you may remember, he was overwhelmed by Kyuubi’s chakra when it roamed the village freely but after sealing it those problems disappeared. Hakke fūin seal seems strong enough to contain the chakra well enough.’ Uzumaki enlightened them, munching happily on her sour pickle.

‘And if, by any chance, Tobirama manages to get on with the Nibi better than me with the Kyuubi… Who knows, maybe it could even help him supress the nature energy to better extend and he wouldn’t have to wear a supressing seal all the time.’ Mito finished, getting in response only thoughtful murmurs and hums. Apparently not only Madara was a bit confused about the chakra intricacies.

 

‘Anyway, how long do you think it will take to finish the preparations?’ Madara inquired. If it depended solely on him he’d be ready to bolt right here right now. ‘Well, since we’ll be using kohaku no jōhei I’d say you can leave whenever you feel recovered enough for fighting a tailed beast. But I’ll feel better if you’re equipped with the sealing scrolls all the same. Touka will help me prepare them, right?’ Mito turned to the other woman present, who was, thanks to content stomach, finally turning from the ball of anger back to her usual snarky self.

‘Huh, me? I’d be glad to be of use but are you sure I’m suitable for it?’ Touka tilted her head. ‘Sure. You wanted to get more proficient in fuuinjutsu so you could seal your weapons into scrolls, right? That requires practice.’ The Uzumaki winked and Touka pouted. Madara snorted at the familiarity of this particular Senju grimace.

‘I will check you over to estimate when your chakra levels return to normal but judging by the amount you had yesterday, you should probably wait at least until the day after tomorrow.’ Hashirama spoke up again, still with a bit of grudge in his voice about Madara allowed having his way but he wasn’t complaining aloud.

 

 

A sudden loud noise out of Tobirama’s room interrupted the conversation and made them all jump in alarm. Hashirama was the first one to bolt into the corridor to check what just happened, with the rest of them on his heels. When he almost kicked the door open, the elder Senju stopped abruptly to stare at whatever was in the room.

‘Move it you…!’ Madara shoved him out of the way to see for himself and froze as well. There was a cat in the room. A big one. With silver hair and black markings and everything that screamed snow leopard. ‘Well, greetings to everyone, although I can only recognize Hashirama-kun and Touka-chan.’ The leopard broke the stunned silence with a deep voice that hinted it was a female.

‘Kaida-sama! What are you doing here? How did you even get in here?’ Hashirama exclaimed, finally recovered after being directly addressed. Kaida? That rang a bell. Tobirama mentioned her when he was showing his leopard cub to his brats, right?

 

‘Kaida-sama? You don’t happen to be, by any chance, a mother of Tobirama’s summon Yukitsume?’ Madara ventured with respect. ‘As it happens, I do. Me and my offspring alike are Tobi-chan’s summons.’ The leopard inclined its head. ‘To answer the previous question, I can summon myself when needed. The link between me and Tobi-chan weakened and I wished to investigate why.’ Kaida sat down and curled her long tail around her paws.

‘So? Any explanation as to why my human cub is wounded, unconscious and I can feel a nine-tailed fox chakra in him would be much appreciated.’ Kaida scanned the group expectantly. For a leopard she had almost a royal bearing but there was a hint of motherly concern in her inquire.

‘I think Madara here will be the best suited to explain. I’ll check up on Tobes while I’m in there, there rest of us should leave for now, there’s too many people in here.’ Mito suggested as the room truly was awfully crowded with all of them squished in. Oh dear. Just how many times would Madara be required to retell the whole story all over again?

 

‘Oh. So you are Uchiha Madara? Well met. I heard much about you.’ Kaida bowed her head to show respect. Madara did the same for he didn’t want to offend her. ‘I’m honoured to make the acquaintance. And you heard only the worst, I imagine.’ He chuckled and Kaida made a face close to a smile. ‘On contrary. My cub was quite taken with you. And he insisted Tobi-chan is smitten with you as well, however unlikely it sounded to me.’ The snow leopard purred and Madara’s ears turned red.

‘Erm. We’re… On good terms, yes.’ Madara rubbed the back of his neck and attempted to glare a hole to the back of Mito’s skull when she released a quiet snort. ‘I think it would be best to start explaining, that’s why you’re here after all. Me and Tobirama were sent on a mission…’ Madara sat down to give a report of what happened.

 

 

‘…and by fortune’s chance we obtained information about the Nibi. Therefore I’m about to leave the soonest my chakra levels allow and capture it so Mito here could seal it into Tobirama.’ Madara broke down the basics. ‘You want to seal Nibi no Nekomata, something akin to the revered goddess of all feline summons, into my human cub?’ Kaida asked incredulously.

‘It’s not ideal but it’s also the best plan we came up with.’ Madara grimaced and turned to Mito for confirmation. The Uzumaki was knitting something in a chair in the other corner of the room. ‘I suppose it is. But it’s also insanity. And you really wish to go alone on this quest?’ Kaida scanned him from head to toe dubiously.

‘I fought a tailed beast before and I’m conscious of all the dangers. I’m more than willing to take all the necessary risks for Tobirama.’ Madara looked softly at the still form of the white-haired Senju.  ‘I feel obligated to point out that sealing our deity should be considered a great insult to all of the feline summon clowders. But Tobirama is dear to me as my own child.’ The snow leopard followed his example, glancing at motionless Tobirama sadly.

 

‘I offer you my help in this endeavour. I highly doubt you know how to treat Matatabi-sama with respect she deserves and I reckon you will find any insight useful for the encounter. Also I much desire to meet her in person.’ Kaida looked Madara dead in the eye.

‘That’s actually a very generous offer, Kaida-sama. I’m sure Hashirama will be more at peace too knowing Madara is not completely on his own.’ Mito answered for him. ‘I guess I’ll have to tell Izumi and Shishi too or else I’ll never hear the end of it that I left them out and exchanged them for a bigger cat.’ Madara sighed.

 

He didn’t need to summon his ninja cats for quite a while, he almost wondered they didn’t appear on their own much like Kaida did to hiss and whine about being neglected. For ninja cats they were awfully spoiled but that was mostly his own fault as he was foolish enough to treat them more like domestic cats too often.

‘Your summons are cats? That should make things a bit easier.’ Kaida seemed relieved. ‘You’re acquainted with those two troublemakers?’ Madara wondered how she might know who he was talking about. ‘Only briefly. As a head of snow leopards I am required to have a basic knowledge about all other feline clowders.’ Kaida licked one of her paws.

 

‘I’m afraid I will have to return now and tell the news to the rest of the clowder. When do you plan to leave for the quest?’ Kaida stood up and padded closer to him. ‘The day after tomorrow most likely. I doubt Hashirama will let me go sooner.’ Madara rolled his eyes.

‘Understandable. Would you mind lending me your hand, please?’ Kaida requested. Madara looked at Mito, who beckoned him to oblige. Much to his shock, once he extended the hand the snow leopard bit him, sinking her sharp fangs into the skin and flesh. ‘Ouch! What did I do to deserve that?’ Madara snatched the hand back, inspecting the bloodied bite and scowling grudgingly.

‘Tobirama trusts you a great deal if he revealed his summons to you and from what you said, he was willing to give his life for you. In return I can clearly see he means much to you. I respect that. For that reason, I established a link between us as well. I needed some blood for that. It’s not like I’m yours summon animal now but you can call for me should you need me.’ Kaida licked softly at the bite, cleaning the blood with her tongue.

‘I… See. That’s an honour, Kaida-sama. Thank you.’ Madara bowed his head, a bit placated now, knowing all too well how picky summon animals were about the shinobi they decided to put their trust into. ‘It is mostly for practical reasons, I won’t be able to be with you all the time, after all. Your welcome. I shall be going now but I’ll be back.’ Kaida nodded shortly and hopped onto the bed, much to Madara’s surprise. There she nuzzled her nose against Tobirama’s affectionately and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

 

Madara blinked several times in confusion and glanced at Mito who was smiling at him conspicuously. ‘Would you look at that. Uchiha Madara gained trust of not only Tobirama but also his summons!’ She giggled at Madara’s loud groan. ‘Stop it. We should tell Hashirama, I’m sure he’s about to burst out with curiosity by now.’ The Uchiha attempted to change the subject.

‘He can live with that for a while longer.’ Mito waved him off. ‘Why didn’t you tell him I was here the whole night, by the way?’ Madara finally remembered to ask. ‘He was emotionally unstable enough as it was. I didn’t want to agitate him with any more breaking news.’ Mito shrugged and continued her knitting.

‘Breaking news?’ Madara arched a brow. ‘You know how he is about friendships, he goes overboard with affection to anyone.’ Mito said, as if it explained anything. ‘If I don’t know too well about this super annoying trait of his. But what does it have to do with anything?’ The Uchiha frowned.

‘Hashirama is even more of an oblivious fool than you are.’ Mito continued cryptically and smirked, enjoying herself riling impatient Madara up when the said man huffed in aggravation. ‘He’s still convinced you and Tobirama are just very good friends. He has no clue you have any romantic intentions towards his little brother.’ She finally spilled the beans.

 

That made sense. Madara was wondering about distinct lack of manic flailing or murder attempts (or, most plausibly, the unfortunate combination of both) from Hashirama’s part. ‘And good for you too. Prepare for the worst shovel talk of your life once he realizes you’re about to defile Tobes.’ Mito giggled again when Madara gulped aloud. Hashirama in his overprotective older brother mode wasn’t anything he was particularly looking forward to dealing with.

‘Well, thanks for your help, I suppose. I too don’t think it’s the best time to inform the dolt I’m in love with his baby brother. Nor that I’m prepared for his reaction, whatever it may be.’ Madara was distinctly sure he could never truly be ready for that, but that was beside the point.

‘That’s alright. But you won’t be able to hide it from him for too long. And he’s going to be insufferable once he discovers the rest of us knew.’ Mito rolled her eyes at her husband’s antics in advance. ‘I imagine. But still, I’d like to speak with the object of my attention first. It’s kind of embarrassing you guys are taking it as we are a thing while I didn’t even have an opportunity to confess to Tobirama.’ Madara grumbled.

‘But that’s just a formality. He does like you back. Are you going to tell him when he wakes up?’ Mito perked up with interest. ‘Yes? I came to a conclusion we wasted enough time dancing around each other as it is.’ Madara shrugged. Once he made a decision he was pretty straightforward with carrying out the deed. Not to mention their latest endeavour reminded him how full of dangers shinobi life is, despite the huge improvement on this part since the village had been founded.

‘How do you plan to do it?’ The Uzumaki leaned closer eagerly. ‘I don’t know yet. Obviously it can’t be the first thing to blurt out once he regains consciousness. I’ll need to think about it.’ Madara crossed his arms, signalling the end of discussion on this particular topic. First of all Mito didn’t need to know  _everything_  and second, he truly didn’t have a clue yet.

 

‘What are you working at anyway?’ Madara stretched his neck to peer at the thing Mito was knitting. It suspiciously looked like a tiny sweater. Madara’s brows disappeared in his hairline as suddenly all the pieces clicked together. Weakened hakke fūin seal, weird tastes, Mito positively glowing with happy aura and suddenly being so friendly…

Before she had the opportunity to say anything, Madara’s hand extended on its own and he pointed vehemently at her stomach. ‘Uzumaki! Are you…?’ Madara blurted out, eyes on top of his head. Mito blushed and nodded bashfully. She was almost cute like that.

‘Five weeks into the pregnancy.’ She smiled softly, putting her palm onto her stomach. ‘That’s great news! Do others know?’ Madara couldn’t help but grin as well. ‘Hashirama, Touka and Izuna all know but we didn’t announce anything yet. I just had it confirmed when you were out of the village with Tobes.’ Mito folded her knitting and stood up to move to the bed.

 

‘We wanted to tell you as soon as you return.’ She swept some hair from Tobirama’s forehead and checked his temperature. ‘He’ll be ecstatic once he learns about a little nephew or niece on way.’ Madara joined her, straightening invisible wrinkles on the bedding.

‘I’m sure he’ll be the best uncle. Although he’ll have to compete for that position with you, right?’ Mito winked at him. ‘Doubtful. Tobirama has a gift for dealing with children. I can’t even figure out how am I supposed to speak to them most of the time.’ Madara chuckled, willing to admit one of his flaws.

‘You will learn from him I’m sure.’ Mito graced him with a radiant smile. ‘Gladly. Although I’m not sure I’m about to survive taking care of yours and Hashirama’s kid. If they inherit the combination of his undying zeal and your legendary stubbornness, it’s gonna be a tiny terror.’ Madara responded with his own grin.

‘You’ll manage, I have no worries about that. You’re like a cockroach, you survive anything. Easier to get used to you being around then wait for you to perish.’ The red-head nudged him with elbow playfully and made for the door. Madara responded with mock-offended squawk and followed after her, smiling. He would have to get used to the brand new level of the relationship between them but it was nice to have an unexpected ally in her.

 

 

 

Hashirama practically jumped on him the moment they appeared in the living room. ‘What took you so long? What did Kaida-sama want? Speak quickly, I need to go to the tower, I have a business meeting.’ Hashirama was bouncing on spot. ‘Actually, he’s already more than twenty minute late.’ Izuna sighed from the spot by the door where he was leaning on the doorframe, arms folded.

‘She offered us her help as she has some valuable knowledge about the Nibi. Apparently the cat demon is something like their goddess. She called it Matatabi-sama.’ Madara summed the conversation with Kaida up as shortly as possible. ‘Oh! That’s great news! I’m glad.’ Hashirama launched himself on the elder Uchiha to hug him spontaneously.

‘Stop it, you overgrown oaf. You’re worse than a child.’ Madara, not expecting the onslaught, stumbled back with the impact, only to be straightened by Touka’s muscular arm. ‘As much as I’d love to watch more of my dear brother suffering through human interactions, I’m afraid we really need to go now, Hashi.’ Izuna peeled himself off the doorframe to remove Hashirama off Madara by force.

 

‘Alright, alright, coming already. Sometimes I do wonder how did you, that sweet careless Izuna, learned to be this kind of pedantic.’ Hashirama pouted dramatically but a second later he was grinning again. ‘Tobirama, that’s pretty easy to decipher.’ Touka smirked proudly. ‘Well since Tobi and Mada are currently incapacitated, someone has to supervise our esteemed hokage, right?’ Izuna shrugged nonchalantly, trying too hard not to preen in front of her.

‘Before we leave. I wanted to ask if you could write some report we could send to Kumo and Uzushio as they are eagerly awaiting the outcome of your mission. Kumo patrols most likely already investigated the place of your fight too. Just… It would be better not to mention anything on the treasured tools or Nibi no Nekomata.’ Hashirama turned to his best friend, once more in his business mood.

‘You think I’m daft? Like I wouldn’t figure out how pissed would the raikage be should he find out we obtained weapons and information Kumo wouldn’t hesitate to kill for from their rogue ninja.’ Madara responded with a flat stare. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you, just saying.’ Hashirama patted his shoulder in a placating manner and hearing Izuna’s longsuffering huff finally left the house, but not before he kissed Mito goodbye.

 

 

Thus, Madara was basically left alone with women. As much as he dreaded it would be awkward or he would feel uncomfortable with them, he was pleasantly surprised Mito and Touka behaved and didn’t gang up on him as he would expect.

They spent the morning in the living room. Madara was working on the mission reports, crafting the most believable account on the fight without mentioning bashōsen or anything about Tobirama’s sage mode or his new sharingan. He also decided to avoid saying Tobirama had been severely wounded. No one had to know the fastest living shinobi, brother of the hokage and one of his closest advisors, had been almost killed and incapacitated for an unknown time period.

All the while he kept sneaking amused glances towards the two women who were sitting on the sofa as Mito was trying to teach Touka how to knit and the Senju devil couldn’t get the hand of it for the love of gods. Madara had to laugh. Touka maybe had a natural gift and skill to master almost every weapon she touched but knitting needles were something too complicated for her.

 

Finally around noon Touka apparently had enough as her patience ran thin and decided to cook lunch instead. Naturally, Madara firmly decided she had to be supervised or else he’d have to suffer through yet another of her super spicy meals and he was sure he couldn’t handle that two days in a row.

Touka kept grumbling about lack of seasoning but in the end Madara convinced her a simple miso soup with vegetables and udon noodles would be just enough for them. While the soup was bubbling happily on the stove and they stopped bickering, Madara had the opportunity to pose some uncomfortable questions. Kami knew it was his turn after all those times Touka made fun of him.

 

‘So, how’s it going with Izuna?’ Madara started lightly, as if by the way. Touka frowned and tensed a little. ‘What exactly are you talking about, Uchiha?’ She looked at him sharply. ‘Well, did he already manage to breach your walls?’ Madara lifted one corner of his mouth in a half smirk when Touka shifted weight from one leg to another uncomfortably and looked away.

‘He makes it pretty obvious he fancies you. Do you at least like him back? Because if you don’t…’ Madara asked more seriously when Touka remained stubbornly silent. ‘I do!’ Touka blurted out and – kami take his trusted gunbai if he imagined that – blushed faintly. ‘I do like him. I just… Sort of want to enjoy the attention, maybe?’ The Senju woman bit her lower lip and glanced at Madara meekly.

‘Every man I ever met only saw me as a warrior, dangerous harpy who could break his bones effortlessly and was to be feared from afar. It’s a nice change to be showered with flowers, sweets, terrible attempts on cooking and hilarious pieces of poetry on my  _“eyes green like chickweed”._ ’ Touka leaned on the counter and looked out of the window.

That admittance surprised Madara considerably as he was at loss of words suddenly. But it made sense. She was one of the few Senju women ranked so high in the clan hierarchy and probably had to fight viciously to be respected as an equal. Thus she maintained the image of a tough unbeatable pig-headed warrior.

 

‘Izuna writes poetry? I’d love to read that masterpiece.’ Madara laughed, not commenting on her confession any more. That was a wise move as Touka glanced at him gratefully before she grinned wickedly. ‘Oh yeah. It reads something like – let me think for a moment. Got it.’ Touka cleared her throat, straightened her back and began to recite with comical solemnity.

 

‘Every time a see a leaf,

It reminds me of a gorgeous thief.

She has the eyes of green,

Most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

She managed to steal my heart,

I wish we were never part.’

 

Madara couldn’t help but burst out laughing. This was so terrible it was almost painful yet he was sure Izuna meant every word of it seriously. ‘And so the thing goes on and on. Honestly, I couldn’t stop laughing for good twenty minutes and had to reread it four times to believe it.’ Touka finally lost her composure and joined him in the laughing fit.

‘What an idiot…’ Madara shook his head and wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye once he caught his breath again. ‘I know. But it’s so endearing too!’ Touka sighed dreamily. ‘Don’t you dare telling him anything I said. I can’t believe I’m making a confident out of you of all people.’ She narrowed her eyes threateningly.

‘Wouldn’t ever dream of that. I’m sure you have enough blackmail on me to make me embarrassed hundredfold.’ Madara waved her off. ‘Good. Now. Will you write Tobi some poetry too? I’d kill for getting my hands on a piece waxing poetry on his ashen hair or firm ass.’ Touka snorted loudly when Madara graced her with a scorching glare.

‘For your information, I’m far better wordsmith than my fool of a brother. But unlike him I like to retain my dignity. Or at least some semblance of it.’ Madara crossed his arms and stuck his nose into the thin air. ‘Chicken boy.’ Touka needled and proceeded to suffocate laughing when Madara responded by sticking his tongue out. It was childish but it felt right.

 

‘What are you two laughing about all the time? Is the lunch done already? I have cravings.’ Mito strode into the kitchen, hands perched on her hips. ‘I recalled that poem Izuna wrote the other day. You know which one.’ Touka managed while she was waving her hands in front of her face to calm down a bit.

‘The ode on  _“the eyes of jade, the prettiest gods ever made”_? Mito grinned widely as Madara with Touka bent over again, supporting one another not to fall over. ‘That one made my whole week, honestly. You Uchiha truly are a ridiculous bunch.’ The Uzumaki rounded them to check up on the soup for herself, seeing they were currently disabled.

‘Mmm, it’s delicious! I want a large bowl right now.’ Mito sipped on the soup and hummed appreciatively. She poured three bowls, not awaiting their responses, and prepared the table for the meal. By the time Madara sat down on her left while Touka took the seat on Mito’s right, his stomach muscles were hurting. He hasn’t laughed this much for ages.

 

After lunch Madara went to Tobirama’s room again to have a quick nap and in the afternoon he watched Mito and Touka preparing the sealing scrolls. The whole process was too complicated for his full understanding but the Uzumaki was patient enough to break down the basics so he learned a thing or two. Mito was also nice enough to explain how they work and the necessary handseals for activating them.

 

When it got dark outside Mito cooked some grilled fish with rice for dinner and after that Madara left the women to their own devices in favour to retreat to Tobirama and read in peace. While he was reading, Madara kept commenting on what was in the book and reading parts aloud, asking questions and trying to answer, as if Tobirama could contribute to the debate and wasn’t, in fact, in a coma. It seemed a bit childish but it allowed him some distraction from the stillness of the room and helped to banish the worrying and uneasy feeling about seeing Tobirama like this.

He only heard Hashirama and Izuna returned when he went to the bathroom to clean himself while Mito came to check up on Tobirama’s wound and change his bandages. From the snippets of Hashirama’s whining he gathered they had a very exhausting day and they were heading straight to bed as the hour was already late.

 

Madara too felt drowsy and ready for bed once he finished in the bathroom. He just met Mito with Hashirama coming out of Tobirama’s room. His best friend greeted him tiredly and headed to his own bedroom while the Uzumaki leaned closer with impish smirk.

‘You know, I think the bed is big enough for both of you if you don’t want to strain you neck like the last night.’ Mito whispered and winked cheekily. Madara grunted something incomprehensible and passed around her into the room to see that indeed Tobirama was moved more to the side so there was some space for another person.

 

‘How Hashirama can not know about this is beside me.’ Madara sighed and yawned, conscious of the fact Mito had to ask him to move Tobirama around. Not that he was complaining. His neck wasn’t terribly happy about the sleeping arrangements of the previous night.

‘Under different circumstances I’d prefer to have your consent but since you can’t bicker with me about it, I’ll take the advantage of the free space on the bed.’ Madara announced to Tobirama before he slipped under the sheets, mindful to keep some distance between himself and the white-haired man not to hurt him accidentally should he toss around in his sleep (which was unlikely but he wasn’t taking any chances).

 

Lying on his side, Madara kept staring at Tobirama’s face for a while, memorising every tiny detail about it. The pattern of his freckles, the angle of the markings, length of his grey lashes, the shape of his lips… Madara couldn’t help but reach out and swipe his thumb over them. He almost felt like Tobirama shivered under the touch but that had to be his imagination.

‘I will probably never find courage to say it once you wake up but you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever lay my eyes upon, Senju.’ The Uchiha whispered and moved his hand to entwine his fingers with Tobirama’s. ‘I do hope you’re having some nice dreams. I’d sure like to hear about them all once you wake up.’ Madara lifted the hand to kiss it softly.

With a content smile he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the familiar scent of hibiscus and ink and weapon oil that was unmistakably Tobirama. He had no doubts his Senju would wake up. It was just a matter of time. And he was more than willing to wait for him as long as he had to. Tobirama was worth of it all. For now Madara allowed himself to join him in the land of dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to point out this whole chapter basically wrote itself. Mito with Touka apparently wanted some interactions with the pissy Uchiha.
> 
> Thank you guys for all your lovely comments! <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert Still Dre intro music here* Guess who's back! 
> 
> Lol, jokes. I'm so sorry it took me forever but I finally got into mood for writing some more! I hope you guys still remember what happened in previous chapters (and that I do as well and I haven't written any bullshit into this one :D). 
> 
> Thanks for your patience, enjoy! (: <3

‘Awww. What an adorable sight for my sore eyes.’ A female voice cooing lured Madara out of the blissful oblivion of his dreams back into the realm of the living. He squinted his eyes at whoever was so daring to wake him up, only to spot Uzumaki Mito standing by the bed, hands hidden in her wide sleeves, grinning impishly.

‘Give me a break, Uzumaki.’ Madara just groaned and draped the bedsheet over his head to block the sunlight and hide his red face from her in the process. ‘You will never let me live this down, am I right?’ Madara grumbled from under the blanket. ‘Very much right. I shall remind this to you every time you try to act all tough and almighty. Uchiha Madara, the secret cuddler.’ Mito laughed at a petulant growl from the bedsheet hideout.

 

‘Anyway, you might want to get up already. Hashirama left in hurry because he has some early meetings and inspections around the village and he wanted me to check up on your condition and chakra levels. Also I have an important request for you.’ Mito informed and Madara just shook his head.

‘Nah. I’m perfectly content where I am. Leave me be, Uzumaki.’ Madara refused to move, very well conscious he was being utterly childish, but he couldn’t help it. The bed was warm and comfortable and Tobirama was next to him and the only fault in the whole arrangement was that the man was in deep slumber.

‘Come on, Mada-chan. I brought you breakfast.’ Mito tried to coax him from under the blanket. ‘What is it?’ Madara perked up with interest. His empty stomach definitely could use some filling. Maybe he _could_ be persuaded into cooperation after all. ‘Black tea, scrambled eggs with bacon, toast bread and blackberry jelly.’ Mito answered, amusement lining her voice.

 

‘Fine. Give it to me.’ At last, Madara yielded and a hedge of straggly ink black hair hiding an Uchiha clan head somewhere in the middle of the mess emerged from under the blanket. ‘You are not going to trail crumbles all over the bed.’ Mito wagged her finger disapprovingly. ‘Why not?’ Madara whined. ‘You really need to ask? There’s a patient lying next to you!’ Mito threw her arms up in exasperation.

‘So? He’s in a coma, Mito. He will hardly mind a few crumbs. Right, Tobirama? Don’t say anything if you agree.’ Madara turned to the white-haired man who somehow seemed completely unimpressed with his antics, even though he didn’t move an inch. Mito rolled her eyes long-sufferingly.

‘Madara. You _won’t_ eat in the bed.’ Mito stomped her foot insistently. ‘Will too!’ Madara pursed his lips in a pout. Mito ran her hand across her face. ‘If you refuse to leave Tobes, you can eat it _by the bed,_ sitting in this chair. But don’t make me repeat myself.’ Mito put her hands on her hips, trying to appear stern.

 

‘Alright, fine. That’s a compromise I can settle for. Now give it to me.’ Madara shuffled out of the bed, wrapped in the blanket like a mummy, and snatched the tray with breakfast out of Mito’s hands. ‘Now, that was a practical demonstration of what you’re about to experience once your kid learns to talk.’ Madara grinned slyly when Mito graced him with a glare dripping with poison. ‘You’re an insufferable menace sometimes.’ She seated herself down with her knitting.

‘Thanks. I’ve been told before.’ Madara inclined his head with a cheerful smile and dug in with gusto. ‘Izuna told me you would appreciate this.’ Mito snorted from her spot, watching him stuffing his faces. ‘So what is it you wanted?’ Madara inquired. No way she would bring him breakfast to bed just like that.

 

‘I need you to help me with Tobes. To wash him, change his clothes and beddings and give him treatments and medication.’ Mito came straight to the matter. Madara choked on the mouthful as it went down the wrong pipe. Mito kept smirking all the while Madara was coughing and trying to catch his breath.

‘Why me?’ Madara rasped once he could more or less breathe again. ‘I need men’s help. You wouldn’t let a pregnant woman lift heavy burdens, would you?’ Mito blinked several times innocently. Madara narrowed his eyes but he didn’t have anything to counter that. Sly minx.

‘Fine. I shall lend you my hand if you put it like that.’ He grumbled, pretending to be annoyed rather than embarrassed. ‘Splendid. I knew I could count on you. Also Izuna wanted to train with you in the afternoon, provided you’re recovered enough. From what Touka told me, he’s dying to see your new sharingan and the jutsu you were talking about.’ Mito gave him a radiant smile in response, content to have her way.

 

That was probably a good idea. Madara had to check up on his armour too, sharpen his weapons and resupply his hip pouches to be ready to leave for the Land of Rivers. Speaking of which… ‘Do you happen to know how Tobirama makes the special explosive tags?’ Madara asked around the mouthful of delicious fruit jelly.

‘I have no clue. Maybe you could just check his pouches if he has some left?’ Mito suggested and tipped her head in the direction of Tobirama’s equipment stacked in the corner of the room. Madara hummed and once he was done eating proceeded to examine its contents.

‘Mmm, there are only two left. That’s not very much…’ Madara rubbed his chin in disappointment. The tags were cleverly done, every one of them created several copies when activated to multiply the impact of the explosion, a courtesy of a shadow clone jutsu incorporated into the seal.

‘Then go check his laboratory.’ Mito shrugged. ‘I can’t just march into Snowflake’s house and snoop around! I don’t want to break anything. Only kami know what kinds of dangerous devices he stores in there.’ Madara shook his head vehemently. ‘Then take Hashirama with you. He knows his way around and how to avoid getting hurt.’ Mito glanced up from her knitting. The tiny green sweater was almost finished now.

 

That wasn’t such a bad idea so the Uchiha nodded slowly. ‘I’ll ask him when he returns.’ He paused when his fingers came across one of Tobirama’s custom kunai. It was a pretty thing, shaped differently than regular kunai most of the shinobi were using.

‘Do you think he would mind if I borrowed one?’ Madara turned to Mito questioningly. ‘What on earth are you going to do with it? It’s not like you can use hiraishin as he does.’ Mito arched a thin perfectly shaped brow.

‘I don’t know. I thought… It would be nice to have something that belongs to him with me…?’ Madara shrugged, silently wondering when exactly did he become thus sentimental. ‘Ah. I see, someone’s mushy. Well in that case I doubt Tobirama would oppose.’ Mito giggled. Madara pressed his lips together not to snarl something vile as he normally would. They were having a truce. Repeating that was the key.

 

 

The next thing to drag Madara’s attention to itself was the white fur collar Tobirama insisted on wearing even in the summer even though it was causing him visible discomfort when the heatwave hit the village, which was slightly comical but everyone got used to it ages ago. ‘It’s all dirty and caked with mud and blood. Shouldn’t we clean it?’ Madara ran his hand over the fur. He was always itching to try whether the fluff was as soft as it looked like. Even dirty it was softer than anticipated.

‘Probably. But I have no idea how does one clean a fur. I doubt I can just dip it in the soap water and scrub it.’ Mito admitted with a grimace. ‘No, that would definitely ruin it. Even though I’d love to see Tobirama’s face should he find out how you butchered his oh so precious fur I guess I won’t leave the task up to you.’ Madara chuckled at the pretty vivid idea.

‘Okaa-san used to wear a fur made out of black wolf father hunted down for her.’ Madara remembered. It felt weird. He didn’t speak or even think of his parents for such a long time. ‘She would always brush the dirt out and then clean it with a damp rug, using as little water as possible. If it was really dirty, she would use sawdust. Also electrifying it helped. She was a raiton user, just like Izuna is.’ Madara recalled his mother’s fur cleaning routine. He would never guess watching her as a child would ever come in handy.

‘See? You have much more knowledge on this than me. Would you be a dear and took care of the fur? I’m sure Tobirama will appreciate it.’ Mito waggled her brows suggestively. ‘I suppose I could do it. Why does he wear it all the time anyway?’ Madara inquired, ignoring her taunting.

‘Hashirama said it’s calming for him. He likes it because it’s soft and he sometimes touches it absentmindedly. And it’s a reminder of his mother. Apparently Hatake Hisako also used to wear white fur collars and Tobirama adopted this part of wardrobe after her passing away.’ Mito explained softly. So the collars had a nostalgic value as well. Interesting. So far Madara only viewed it as a part of Tobirama’s peculiar style.

‘He’s surprisingly sentimental in this regard. His healing jutsu? Picked after Itama’s death. According to Hashi he was a medical ninja and a very talented one too. Coming up with better and more effective explosive tags? That was always Kawarama’s passion.’ Mito shared some more information she had on Tobirama.

 

Madara glanced over at the slumbering form of the second eldest Senju. He would never have guessed Tobirama picked up habits to honour his family members’ memory. Then again, just till recently he took Tobirama as an emotionless iceberg incapable of expressing anything more than disgust and wrath. How infinitely wrong one could be about someone, to deal with the man on a daily basis and not really know him in the slightest.

 

His quiet moment of mulling the information obtained over was interrupted by Mito folding her knitting and getting up from her chair. ‘Well, about time we get to our business, don’t you think?’ She cracked her joints and rolled the sleeves of her robes up.

‘What am I to do? We’ll need a bucket of warm water and towels, right?’ Madara, fortunately not entirely clueless how is one supposed to take care of wounded people as he used to watch over his own brothers when they returned from a mission nursing injuries, joined her by the bedside.

‘Precisely. Could you fetch those? You will find everything in the bathroom. I will prepare the medications in the meantime.’ Mito nodded approvingly and opened a case full of different glasses, needles and other medical devices. There was no point watching her mixing medications so Madara hummed in affirmation and did exactly what he was told.

 

By the time he returned Mito had a sack full of liquid prepared and was waiting for him. ‘Good, put it aside for a while. I will need you to lift him for a moment so I could change the beddings.’ Mito gestured to Tobirama. ‘How am I supposed to…?’ Madara trailed off, willing the redness from spreading over his face. ‘Oh. A bridal carry will do, just don’t squish him. Be careful about his stomach in particular.’ Mito snickered at the Uchiha’s mild discomfort with the situation.

‘You don’t have to remind me, I’m not brainless unlike your husband.’ Madara grumbled while leaning down. He hesitated for a moment before looping his arms under Tobirama’s knees and wrapping the other around his back to lift the Senju up. For how tall and well-sculpted he was, Tobirama was lighter than anticipated. But then again, he probably needed his kind of constitution to maintain his speed he was renowned for.

 

Viciously ignoring his heart pacing unhealthy fast Madara tried his best to push the thoughts about nursing the man of his dreams in his arms to the very back of his mind. Good thing the said object of his attention was currently incapacitated and therefore unable to have any say about the situation for if he could, the Uchiha was sure he would have been strangled for even attempting such a stunt.

‘He’s getting heavy.’ Madara complained when it seemed to him Mito took her sweet time changing the beddings and stifling giggles any time she glanced his way. ‘One would think you would enjoy having Tobes in a bridal carry. It’s very likely the first and also last opportunity for you to do so.’ Mito, completely unfazed, straightened the sheets on her own pace and finally gestured Madara to lay Tobirama back on the bed.

 

‘Great. Now we can wash our patient.’ Mito started unfastening the obi of the white yukata Tobirama was clothed in. Madara frankly didn’t have a clue what to do with his hands. Was he supposed to help her with this task as well? Wasn’t it breaking Tobirama’s privacy? He still didn’t fully comprehend why – besides harassing him – Mito asked for his help in the first place. As if Hashirama wasn’t better suited for the task.

‘Well don’t just stand there Uchiha, lend me your hand.’ One of the smaller towels dampened in lukewarm water hit him square in the face as Mito threw it to snap him out of his internal fretting fit. Madara yelped and his wet face immediately morphed into a deep scowl but he gritted back the waterfall of insults itching to spill out. He wouldn’t be provoked, he wouldn’t.

‘Where do I start?’ Madara asked, maybe a tad bit more aggressively than was entirely necessary. ‘Let me see…’ Mito smirked wickedly, making him gulp. ‘Take the arms and torso and I’ll do the lower half from waist down.’ She ordered eventually, much to Madara’s relief. As if seeing Tobirama so exposed wasn’t frustrating enough, should she force him see _all of it…_

 

The Uchiha tried his damnest to block inappropriate thoughts that kept coming in reaction to the well-toned body of a handsome man under his palms, working methodically and mechanically. ‘You don’t have to rub him skinless, you know…’ Mito elbowed him with a chuckle, pointing at one place on Tobirama’s chest that was all red from the way Madara kept scrubbing it absentmindedly.

‘Are we done yet?’ Madara threw his towel into the bucket with a dramatic splash and crossed his arms for good measure. ‘I’m afraid not. We still need to tend to the wound and he needs the medication.’ Mito gestured towards the lower belly Tobirama had wrapped in bandages. Madara only groaned weakly.

‘I thought you wanted to help him?’ Mito raised a brow, frowning a little. ‘I do! It’s just…’ Madara squirmed under her scrutiny. ‘What’s the matter? He’s going to need treatments even after you return with the Nibi and he wakes up. I don’t know who he’ll prefer being his caretaker but you should know what to do in case Tobes chooses you. Which it not as unlikely as you’d expect, might I add.’ Mito pursed her lips.

‘Doubtful. Why would he choose me over his own brother or you. Ugh, nevermind. I get your point. Let’s get over with it.’ Madara capitulated. He wasn’t going to wriggle out of this without looking like an insensitive ass who didn’t care a bit about Tobirama. Which he wasn’t, thank you very much. Tobirama risked his life for him, this was the slightest he could do to repay him. No sentiments involved.

 

When Mito unwrapped the bindings and exposed the wound, Madara couldn’t fight a wince escaping his lungs. ‘That’s a nasty gash…’ The Uchiha murmured, fists clenching unconsciously. ‘Yeah… I’ll be completely honest with you, if he wasn’t a healer and didn’t attempt to heal himself, he would have bled out on the battlefield.’ Mito answered in similarly sombre manner, spreading some kind of healing salve onto the angry red gash.

‘It’s my fault, if I were faster he…’ Guilt overwhelmed Madara once more. ‘Hey. Your circumstances could not be predicted. But he needs our help now, yours in particular. Tobes needs the pig-headed determined Madara who does absolutely everything in his power to achieve the goal, not a whiny child. So stop wailing in pity and blaming yourself and man up.’ Mito levelled him with a firm stern look that softened once Madara’s mouth snapped shut and he nodded in renewed resolve. She was right, as she usually was if Madara was honest enough to admit as much.

‘So now you’re going to do your green-glowy magic?’ Madara asked after a short pause. ‘Yeah, glowy magic it is. You can prepare new bandages in the meantime.’ Mito laughed shortly and true to her words coated her palms with healing chakra. She released a few hums while she worked but Madara knew better than interrupt her focus.

 

‘Overall he’s healing pretty well, even though it will obviously leave some scars. The main problem remains though, the root chakra gate is blocked and the flow of chakra is too weak for him to regain consciousness. He’s depending on the success of your attempt to capture the Nibi now.’ Mito concluded once she was done with the check-up. Madara’s lips tightened even though he expected as much.

‘I swear by my own life I won’t fail him.’ Madara lifted his palm to place it over his heart and enclosed one of Tobirama’s into it tightly. ‘A noble oath indeed. Like the samurai of old swearing their honour to the lady of their heart.’ Mito giggled a little but Madara knew she didn’t mean to diminish or ridicule his oath.

‘I’d love to see his reaction if he could hear you comparing him to a damsel in distress.’ Madara snorted. ‘He’ll probably tell me off for it once he’s awake.’ Mito shrugged. ‘You think… I mean… He can, like, hear us?!’ Madara yelped with fright. He said quite a lot of things he would never if he knew Tobirama could hear him.

 

‘Maybe? We can’t be sure but it is possible. The cases when the patient in a coma can hear their surroundings are well known and actually not that uncommon.’ Mito shrugged again and a gleeful grin slowly spread across her cheeks as she regarded Madara working himself into state of utter mortification.

‘What, Uchiha? Were you pouring your heart out to your unconscious crush?’ She elbowed him in the ribs jovially. ‘No! I… Um. That is none of your business, Uzumaki.’ Madara sputtered and scrambled for the bandages to signal the end of the conversation and to busy his hands with anything to prevent them from clenching into fists.

‘If you say so…’ Mito winked and kept smirking knowingly, making Madara glower. ‘Now it’s time for the medication.’ The redhead reached for a sack of liquid with a long tube ended with a needle. She rubbed the needle with the disinfection and did the same on Tobirama’s forearm.

‘What’s this for?’ Madara tilted his head curiously. ‘Never seen an infusion? Well, it’s filled with healing mixture and also nutrition. Since Tobes can’t eat on his own, we need to keep him in shape like this.’ Mito explained while she was pushing the needle into Tobirama’s vein. ‘That’s clever.’ Madara rubbed his chin. Not that Uchiha clan did not have capable healers but still the healing techniques and medical knowledge Senju and Uzumaki clan possessed were unparalleled.

 

‘All done. Thanks for your invaluable assistance.’ Mito clapped her hands and cleaned the mess they created. ‘Am I now free to go?’ Madara didn’t know what to do with himself once they were done. ‘No. You’re next in for the check up, remember?’ Mito gestured towards the chair by the bed. The Uchiha rolled his eyes but complied anyway.

‘Do you need me to undress or something?’ He mumbled uncomfortably. ‘I don’t think that’s necessary, let us both be spared the embarrassment. Save it for Tobes over there.’ Mito chuckled and got her palms glowing while Madara bit his tongue not to lash out.

She kept poking and prodding at his limbs and body for a while, both of them silent during the whole process. ‘Good, very good! Your chakra levels are almost back to normal, outstanding for such a short time. These medic pills I’ve been sneaking into your food are really paying off.’ Mito nodded contently when she was done with the check up and stepped away from the Uchiha.

‘Excuse me, you’ve been _what_?!’ Madara shrieked, rightfully feeling deceived. ‘I recently created a new recepture based on the fighting pills of the Akimichi clan. I didn’t really have anyone to try them on yet so I figured I might as well use you when you needed to get well in the fastest possible way…’ Mito shrugged as if the fact she used Madara as a lab rat was nothing of importance.

‘Unbelievable. If it was Tobirama I wouldn’t even be surprised but to think that his “nothing can stop me in the name of research” attitude would rub on you of all people…’ Madara threw his arms up in bewilderment. ‘It did work though so quit bitching. I suggest you prepare yourself for your departure to the Land of Rivers.’ Mito cut his rambling off with an eye roll and strode out of the room.

 

₪₪₪

 

After spending most of the morning helping the Uzumaki, Madara gathered his armour and weapons still lying next to Tobirama’s gear and headed home. Only when he stepped out of Hashirama’s house it has occurred him that he hadn’t been home since they returned from the mission, not leaving the hokage household at all. Did anyone even know he and Tobirama were back in the village?

Thinking better of it, Madara decided it would be for the best to get home unnoticed. Sneaking past the village patrols was disturbingly easy (he made a mental note to do something about that once he returned back to his office) and soon enough he stepped over the threshold of his house. It was oddly quiet in there with Izuna somewhere out, almost too quiet. Over the past few days he got used to constant turmoil of the house holding six people and now his own deserted home felt a tad bit abandoned.

Madara tried to shake off the feeling. It was ridiculous. He was used to his solitude. Why, he _relished_ in it most of the time, despising to be disturbed in his own home. Not that Izuna didn’t create a fair share of disturbance of his own but as the social butterfly his younger brother was he was away most of the time. It was just a matter of time when even Izuna decided he was too old to share a house with his brother. If he wouldn’t die of hunger or food poisoning should he do so he would have probably moved out by this point.

 

Shaking his head, Madara went to his bedroom, groaning at the state of his wardrobe. Izuna did bring him his favourite clothes, a caring brother he was, but made a mess of the neatly folded clothes in the wardrobe in search of them. It took Madara a while to get everything back to order and pick some clothes for the mission in the process.

 

After that, checking his armour was in order. It gained a few new scratches in the fight and one strap holding the spaulder together had to be replaced but otherwise it appeared to be in a surprisingly good condition. Unlike Tobirama’s who would need a completely new cuirass after the hit from the fox tail.

Maybe Madara could commission one of the Uchiha blacksmiths to make one for him? Everyone knew the Uchiha made some of the most durable yet very light armour. It could be his courting gift or something. Madara paused for a moment on a thought like that but why not? It wasn’t too old-fashioned to court someone you wished to pursue, was it? Considering his and Tobirama’s position in their respective clans, traditional approach was probably for the best.

 

His musings were interrupted when Izuna barged into the house like a wildfire. ‘Aniki, are you in there?’ Izuna hollered cheerfully. ‘Yes. Stop being so damn loud.’ Madara barked back. ‘Sorry, sorry. Mito told me you’re getting ready to depart tomorrow. I guess you could use some stretching before that? We haven’t sparred together for ages.’ Izuna came to his bedroom, smiling.

‘That’s because you always choose to train with Tobirama instead of me lately.’ Madara frowned at him. ‘You said it yourself I should try and strengthen my raiton release. It’s no use to train that with you, obviously, when Tobirama can teach me some of his own techniques.’ Izuna rolled his eyes at Madara being jealous.

 

 ‘Right. Anyway, I’m almost done there. I only need to sharpen the kama on my gunbai.’ Madara gestured towards the collection of the shuriken, explosive tags, kunai and other small weapons he was about to put into his pouches. ‘Alright, you take care of your oh so precious gunbai while I can store these for you in the meantime.’ Izuna grinned and plopped down on the floor next to his older brother.

‘What’s this? Did you accidentally take one of Tobirama’s?’ Izuna swung the untypical kunai in front of Madara’s eyes. ‘No. I took it on purpose. Now shut your cakehole and finish up.’ Madara snapped, tore the kunai out of Izuna’s clutches and shoved it into one of the hidden pockets of his robes. ‘Oookay.’ Izuna’s face split in a very gleeful grin but he didn’t say anything more on the matter, kami bless.

 

Once ready and dressed in their armour the two Uchiha brothers made their way to the training grounds. True to his thoughts no one in the village knew he was back, therefore they had to sneak out of the compound again and chose a valley about half an hour away from Konoha where they were unlikely to be disturbed by anyone. It was one of the training grounds Hashirama made for Tobirama to try his new jutsu on without posing any danger to the village should it get out of hand (as it did quite a few times).

 

They were sticking mostly to taijutsu, conserving as much of the chakra as possible for the mission awaiting Madara. ‘You improved your speed, otouto.’ Madara acknowledged when Izuna managed to deliver some pretty impressive hits on him.

‘I guess the training with Tobi is paying off. He’s so fast that if I don’t push myself to keep up I would end up one big walking bruise.’ Izuna grinned proudly. ‘Shall we take a break? I have some food.’ Izuna dropped the stance and wiped at his sweaty forehead. ‘Don’t worry, I bought a takeaway.’ He laughed at Madara’s suspicious face.

‘Very well, that should be save. Nothing like food poisoning the evening before I go bijuu hunting.’ Madara cracked a smile of his own at a mock-offended squawk Izuna produced and they settled in the shade of a nearby tree. They munched idly on the onirigi Izuna bought, pressed side to side and watching the sun getting lower. Madara felt content after a long while, it’s been some time since he and Izuna had some peaceful brotherly moment like this.

 

 

Izuna swallowed the last bit of his food and kept wiggling as if he wanted to say anything, most likely about the new jutsu and sharingan. Madara was getting impatient with him when he at last gathered the courage to speak. ‘Aniki?’ Izuna glanced at him hesitantly. Madara’s grunt encouraged him to continue.

‘I’ve been itching to ask you since you mentioned it but the time just wasn’t right. Would you mind telling me more about the sharingan change you spoke of?’ Izuna turned fully to him, curiosity now clearly painted over his features. ‘I gathered you would ask. I’m not sure I can tell you a lot though, I myself don’t know much about it yet.’ Madara wiped his palms clean.

‘You said your sharingan evolved? What do you mean by that? How did you do that? When?’ Izuna started questioning him. ‘I’m not quite sure how it happened but I know when. I have a pretty vivid image in my head…’ Madara sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

 

‘It all happened so quick. Tobirama temporarily bound Kinkaku in a seal trap and it was up to me to use a chakra sucking tag to make him loose the kyuubi chakra he was using.’ Madara recalled the nasty memory he’d rather forget.

‘I wasn’t quick enough. Kinkaku freed one of his tails and went after me. Tobirama used hiraishin to get to me first and took the blow meant for me. It was…’ Madara’s voice failed him for a moment and Izuna reached out to catch his hand into his own to comfort him.

‘There was a lot of blood, the injury was severe. I didn’t know what to do. Tobirama was dying. He knew it yet still ordered me to leave him and finish our mission. Something snapped inside me.’ Madara paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. Izuna waited patiently for him to continue.

 

‘I can’t properly describe it but I was in such a weird state of mind. It all mixed together in my head. I felt absolute rage the fucker dared to hurt Tobirama. Deep sorrow and fear knowing he was about to die. Just as we were getting somewhere I was about to lose him for good. My vision started to swing and darken, I felt terrible pulses in my eyes and then it happened. I saw differently. And the jutsu appeared on its own.’  Madara described the best he could but even without looking at Izuna he knew his explanation had to be really confusing.

‘How differently?’ Izuna tilted his head. ‘Well… More clearly. Everything was precise, colours brighter… I can’t properly describe it, you know.’ Madara shrugged. ‘Mmm… Could you… Perhaps show me?’ Izuna proposed hesitantly. After all it wasn’t every day someone claimed they found a new secret of the precious clan dojutsu.

 

‘I can try…’ Madara murmured as he gathered himself to stand up, Izuna following. They made it to the middle of the clearing where the elder Uchiha halted. He closed his eyes and focused on them. After a moment he felt his chakra building and moving into his orbs, activating them. It took considerably bigger amount of it than his regular sharingan but he felt the new one was activated.

Once he opened his eyes again, Izuna gasped and leaned closer, staring into them like hypnotized. ‘Well? How does it look like? Any changes?’ Madara inquired. Izuna just wordlessly whipped out one of his kunai so that Madara could check for himself in the reflection of the metal.

‘Oh.’ Madara only managed when he saw for himself that the pattern was indeed completely different from the three tomoe spinning around the pupil. Instead the tomoe somehow connected into something akin to a ring around the pupil with three red dots in the ring where the magatama were thickest.

 

‘That’s… Awesome! Can you show me something? A jutsu I mean?’ Izuna blurted out, genuinely amazed. ‘Very well… Goukakyuu no jutsu!’ Madara shouted and spat out a fire ball like he was used to. Only it came out much bigger than it normally would. It was massive.

‘Neat! Aniki this is truly extraordinary!’ Izuna was baffled. Madara himself was quite surprised too. ‘What about that new jutsu? You think you could perform that??’ Izuna caught his forearm, bouncing on spot like a hyperactive child. ‘I’m not sure how much chakra would it cost me…’ Madara said warily. He needed all the strength to the fight with Nibi.

‘Pleeeease! I need to see it!’ Izuna put his best impression of a hungry puppy into use. It was long since it stopped working on Madara but he secretly wanted to try the jutsu again as well. Last time everything happened too fast and he didn’t remember much.

 

‘Fine. But I can’t guarantee anything.’ Madara yielded and again focused chakra into his eyes. It took a while but then blue flames flared all around him. When he looked up a skeleton of a giant appeared as if caging him. ‘Bless the kami! What is this thing?’ Izuna, now several yards away, stared at the giant, mouth hanging open and eyes wide.

‘I have no idea. I don’t recall any records of this kind of jutsu in the secret scrolls of the clan.’ Madara shrugged, surrounded by blue flames, his hair in disarray as the failing air whipped them in all the directions. ‘What does it do?’ Izuna yelled at him.

‘Attack me. With raiton for example.’ Madara said laconically and folded his arms. ‘You sure about that?’ Izuna hesitated seeing he wasn’t defending himself. ‘Yes. Do it, otouto.’ Madara confirmed with a firm nod. Izuna shrugged and formed a few seals. ‘Raiton, Jinraisen!’ He released an electric arrow at Madara. It was a weaker version of a suiton-combined jutsu Madara once saw Tobirama use in a battle to electrocute several people at once but still the attack was pretty strong. Nonetheless, it was all deflected by the flames.

‘Whoa! That’s so cool! It serves as a shield!’ Izuna screamed, eyes on top of his head. ‘Not only that. I recall the giant looking differently, it had the muscles on the bones. I believe it could be mastered further, evolved into stronger versions.’ Madara remembered the fight.

 

‘I think that’s enough for today. It’s draining a lot of chakra out of me…’ Madara waved his hand apologetically, dispelled the giant and returned his eyes back to their natural obsidian black. Izuna seemed a bit disappointed but he nodded in understanding and trotted towards him.

‘Madara, this is phenomenal! We need to figure out how exactly did you manage to activate such a jutsu. Do you have a name for it already?’ Izuna couldn’t stop talking, obviously beside himself with excitement. ‘I haven’t thought about that yet. Any ideas?’ Madara smiled. Izuna always had a wild imagination.

‘Mmm… Let me think…’ Izuna furrowed his brows. ‘What about a Susanoo? It looks mighty and it’s all blue.’ The younger Uchiha brightened. ‘After  Susanoo no Mikoto, god of the sea and storms? Doesn’t sound bad.’ Madara rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘Right!’ Izuna perked up proudly.

‘And the eyes… Maybe a mangekyou sharingan?’ Madara proposed. ‘As far as my knowledge goes, it belongs to you, you can name it whatever you want. Even after a kaleidoscope.’ Izuna chuckled. ‘Mangekyou sharingan it is then.’ Madara nodded to himself. ‘Neat! You’re so strong aniki, I’m envious.’ Izuna sighed wistfully.

‘Come now, you little oaf, you have your own kinds of strengths. Let’s go back to Konoha, it’s getting late.’ Madara gathered their gear and motioned Izuna to join him. The other picked up his own katana he left under the tree and ran after him. All the way back into the village Izuna wouldn’t shut up about how cool Madara was and how he would figure out how to unlock the Mangekyou sharingan too. He was causing Madara a headache but the elder brother still couldn’t help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much happened huh. And it's almost 6k words long. Oh well. Anyway, next chapter we should finally see some action, Matatabi might make an appearance! I'm excited! (and I have a lot of lore to read *sigh*)
> 
> Thanks for reading and leaving your lovely comments and kudos. You guys rock! <3


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